What happened at the end of high school that you would rather forget? And what would it be like if your dark past was suddenly shoved in your face ten years later? By someone you trusted?

This is the premise of the play Tape by Stephen Bender beginning its run next Thursday, June 2 at the Vineyard Playhouse and continuing for two weeks. Tape first appeared at the Humana Festival of New American Plays in 2000 and was later adapted into a film starring Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman.

But like a really good book that somehow loses something essential when transferred to the big screen, the creepy allure of Tape shines best on the stage.

The entire play takes place in a hotel room where three old friends meet up ten years after high school and rehash their past, which includes one buddy sleeping with the other’s ex-girlfriend. The event is further complicated by the fact that the sex may have been forced. In an attempt to establish the truth, the main character begins a whirlwind of interrogation and accusation in which the characters, and the audience, must ponder the questions of “Who owns the truth of the past?” and “Who can use it?”

“There is a lot of manipulation,” said Michael Urie, who plays the main character, Vince, in an interview with the cast after their rehearsal on Monday. “It’s fun to figure out what it’s going to be like for the audience watching because their loyalties will change many times throughout the 75 minutes that they are watching the show.”

Mr. Urie has an extensive resume working in both theatre and television. He is perhaps best known for playing Marc St. James in the television show Ugly Betty.

In much modern theater there is an emphasis on the subtext of scenes and in Tape this is particularly pronounced. It is a play that is designed to keep you thinking and guessing. It follows a continuous action pattern, meaning that once the action begins there are no scene breaks or scene changes. The entire action takes place in the same location — a Motel Six in Michigan.

“It’s kind of like a contemporary Rashomon,” said the director Claudia Weill, referring to the Akira Kurosawa movie that deals with five differing perspectives on an alleged rape. “You never exactly know the truth of what may or may not have happened, but you begin to understand the deep effects of whatever happened on these three people. Like what happened one night in high school has totally affected their lives for the last ten years and may forever unless they deal with it, and that each of them has a different version of the story based on their needs and their fears and who they are.”

Ms. Weill is not only a veteran of film and television, having worked in the business for decades, she is also a regular at the Vineyard Playhouse, most recently directing Memory House in 2010 and End Days in 2008.

The cast is rounded out by two other Playhouse alums, Ryan Spahn and Victoria Campbell. Mr. Spahn appeared in the 2008 production of End Days and Ms. Campbell starred, most recently, in last year’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

The dialogue of the play is fast paced and simple because much is supposed to be gleaned from the subtext.

“It’s really hard to learn and say but it’s really easy to listen to because it sounds like you’re just eavesdropping,” said Mr. Urie. “I think the audience will feel like they are not supposed to be watching.”

A few of the lines are repeated throughout the play so often they underscore linguistically the feeling of claustrophobia.

“[Give me the tape] should be the name of the play,” said Mr. Spahn, with an arched eyebrow.

Other lines are pervasive too.

“Why, why, why not?” said Mr. Urie.

“What, what’s on the table, what, what, what? What are you talking about?” added Ms. Campbell. At this point everyone began laughing at the cacophonous feel of the text and the almost Phillip Glass style repetition of the lines. The repetition is not haphazard, though. The playwright is using speech patterns that one would find in real life when people don’t want to say what they really mean.

Mr. Spahn smiled. “The dialogue sounds like the way you talk so much that it’s infuriating to memorize because it’s so simple sometimes.”

Simple perhaps, but revealing a depth of feeling and unease simmering below the surface,

The play will make you think about relationships and how time affects one’s point of view. But for now the real question one should be pondering is: What is on the tape?

Tape begins its run at the Vineyard Playhouse, 24 Church street in Vineyard Haven, on Thursday, June 2 at 8 p.m.. There will be two days of previews and then its official opening takes place on June 4. The show will run until June 18. For a complete schedule, showtimes and ticket prices visit vineyardplayhouse.org.