America piece by piece

The latest traveling theater piece of the New York-based Relentless Theatre Company offers performer Kittson O’Neill the chance to play roles that would not otherwise be assigned to a “30-something, white actress.”

“Jigsaw Nation,” a series of overlapping monologues taken verbatim from more than 150 impromptu and prearranged interviews, seeks to offer insight into the American identity by authentically conveying the accounts of people from across the country — a diverse selection of which O’Neill will recreate when the show comes to the South Coast Repertory’s Nicholas Studio this weekend.

“I get the chance to be a 60-year-old black man or a 20-year-old Iranian college student — people I would never play in any other production,” she said. “The challenge is to give that person a full life and an honest portrayal, not create a caricature.”

Perceiving that the country had become polarized following the 2004 presidential elections, the theater troupe — established in 1994 with the goal of using the stage to reconnect Americans to their “spectacular and sometimes flawed origins” — set out to learn what the general public was thinking and feeling.

A series of interviews in New York left them wanting more perspectives, so they gradually made their way across the country, sharing that message with audiences along the way.

“It seemed so much of what we got from the news was only one or two perspectives,” said “Jigsaw Nation” director Hayley Finn. “We wanted to really talk to people, hear their concerns, passions and thoughts, and get their voices out there.”

In cutting and pasting segments of the interviews into a script, the company has been careful to represent multiple viewpoints on various issues without incorporating their personal opinions, said associate artistic director Rob Kaplowitz.

His array of subjects included conservative and liberal religious figures, high school students, anti-abortion activists, day laborers and U.S. soldiers.

“After speaking with all these people, you realize that nobody really fits into a predefined category,” he said. “Every conservative has a liberal bone, and every liberal has a conservative bone.”

Finn hopes people will gain a similar understanding from the performance.

“The major point of it is that we want people to go to the theater not only to be entertained, we want them to be inspired and leave with a new perspective,” she said.

In preparation for the two Costa Mesa shows, the creative team read local newspapers and blogs, and talked with natives at Vanguard University, on the sand in Laguna Beach, at South Coast Plaza and elsewhere to find out what’s on the minds of Orange County residents. The second half of the performance will focus on their findings.

“You can learn a lot about a place by understanding the personal perspectives of the people living there,” Kaplowitz said. “Everyone has a story to tell, and it’s an interesting story.”

IF YOU GO

WHAT: The Relentless Theatre Company’s “Jigsaw Nation”

WHEN: 8 p.m. today and Saturday

WHERE: The Nicholas Studio at South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa

COST: Free

INFO: (212) 340-1916 to make reservations; www.relentlesstheatre.com