It’s a quirky comedy about a carnivorous plant.

Think you know the story?

Think again.

Island Time Activities, a nonprofit group for people with intellectual disabilities, will debut an all-original theatrical show (loosely based on that other carnivorous plant tale) titled “Alien Blossom of Horror” at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 16. It’s the largest project ever undertaken by the Bainbridge-based organization, explained longtime group volunteer Rose Mackey.

“Island Time Activities’ mission is to empower people with intellectual disabilities such as Down syndrome, autism, and other cognitive challenges to lead lives of meaning and self-determination,” she said. “To implement this mission, ITA provides several ‘clubs’ where members pursue their own life goals, build and maintain friendships and participate in community life.”

The show’s artistic director is ITA artist M’Rissa Curran.

Through this large scale public performance, Mackey explained, ITA members are gaining experience in cooperation, writing, collaborative creation, memorization, public speaking, construction, budgeting, community outreach and — very importantly — learning how to adapt to and overcome challenges in achieving their goals.

“This project is more than just a fabulous theater production,” she said. “In a series of workshops, ITA members — all of whom have intellectual disabilities — worked with me to write the script, crafting characters and themes to reflect their own interests, talents and capabilities. They are passionate about the full participation of every [ITA] Drama Club member in the production, including those actors who communicate without speech and those whose mobility and motor skills benefit from assistance.”

To make it happen and to make sure everyone gets to be involved, ITA members have relied on their innate creativity and compassion in designing ways for every single Drama Club member to participate, including sharing lines, incorporating pre-recorded speech and crafting costumes, sets, and props to work for everyone’s abilities. ITA members will be responsible for nearly every aspect of the production. They will sing, act and handle the technical aspects of the show with assistance from community volunteers.

“To transform their ideas into reality, ITA members identified local businesses where they and their families shop and, on a gray afternoon, several members, including those who generally are reluctant to speak in public, described this special project in person to several merchants,” Mackey said. “Their efforts were rewarded when the business owners responded with both encouragement and contributions, which will be used to build ITA’s whimsical Winslow set.”

Mackey, a veteran of theater productions at Bainbridge Performing Arts and Bainbridge High School, has been involved with ITA for many years. Her older sister Maggie Mackey is a founding member of the group.

“Maggie is truly one of the most influential people in just about everybody’s lives who have the gift of being close to her,” she said. “Through Maggie, since a very young age, I was deeply involved in her, her friends’ and caregivers’ lives. In fact, I have been friends and collaborating with M’Rissa since middle school, when I spent my free period in her class room taught by Holly Patton.”

“I am also a substitute special ed para-educator of Portland school districts,” Mackey added. “I have a lot of experience working within this field, and the confidence, independence, self-awareness and enjoyment of life, that the members of ITA exhibit, is way beyond anything I have witnessed anywhere else, by far.”

Visit www.islandtimeactivities.org to learn more about ITA, the “Alien Blossom of Horror” show and other upcoming events. Also, check out www.vimeo.com/161433763 to see an exclusive show preview video.

Blossoming talent

What: Island Time Activities’ all-original theatrical show “Alien Blossom of Horror.”

When: 7 p.m. Saturday, April 16.

Where: Hyla Middle School theater (7861 Bucklin Hill Road NE).

Admission: Suggested donation is $10 per person.

Call 206-291-4154 to reserve seats.