At a birthday party their children are attending, brothers Chris and Daniel begin to contemplate the “deep” questions of life with their wives Anabel and Kellen.

No Refund Theatre’s showing of “Balloons” invites the audience to wrestle with existential questions — What do you love more than anything in the world? What happens when you die? — alongside the two couples.

Chris and Anabel suddenly drop a bomb on Dan and Kellen and confess that being parents simply isn’t for them. They want to move to Ukraine and leave their son Max in the other couple’s care.

In the eyes of Dan and Kellen, this decision is inhumane. Parents are supposed to love and care for their children no matter what, right? 

Sensitive subjects are intertwined with witty humor to provide some much-needed comic relief as the characters explore the moral obligations of parenthood.

Junior Chad Poz is both the writer and director of “Balloons.” His childhood didn’t contain many of the darker themes the show explores, but this unfamiliarity motivated him to explore the dark side of familial life.

“I’ve heard a quote that artists write what they are afraid of,” Poz said. “I’d always wondered what it would be like for people who had atrocious childhoods.” 

Directing an NRT show already takes a lot of time and effort. For Poz, writing the script added a greater level of vulnerability to the production.

“When you are writing and directing you feel responsible for everything that goes on,” Poz said. “I sometimes second guess my writing and its really tough to get past the idea that what you’re doing is set in stone and these people trust you. You have to unapologetically go for it.”

NRT will present “Balloons” at 9 p.m. from Thursday, September 20 through Saturday, September 22 in the HUB Flex Theatre. You can find more info on the show’s Facebook page.

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