CHAPEL HILL -- PlayMakers Repertory Company will open its intimate PRC 2 second-stage series with the story of two black women -- one in South Central Los Angeles and the other in Harare, Zimbabwe -- and how their simultaneous HIV diagnoses bring the international AIDS epidemic down to human terms.

PlayMakers will present "In the Continuum" by Danai Gurira and Nikkole Salter tonight through Sunday in the Center for Dramatic Art on Country Club Road.

The timely shows in PlayMakers' second-stage series take audiences around the globe -- from Los Angeles to Zimbabwe, New York City to Iraq -- and each performance is followed by an audience-panel discussion.

Last year's inaugural series sold out.

The New York Times described playwrights Gurira and Salter as "a pair of fiercely talented young women" and hailed "In the Continuum" as one of the Ten Best Plays seen Off-Broadway in 2005.

According to National Public Radio, "each (actor in the play) goes on a personal journey, encountering various characters and cultural bias as they try to come to grips" with their situation.

Liesl Tommy will direct PlayMakers' production.

Her extensive regional and New York theatre credits include dual world premieres of "The Good Negro" at New York's Public Theatre and the Dallas Theater Center, as well as shows at the Sundance Theatre Institute, Hartford Stage, Berkshire Theatre Festival, The Juilliard School and NYU's Strasberg Institute.

Because of the demand for tickets to this series, PlayMakers has added Sunday evening performances to the run of each PRC2 production.

"In the Continuum" will be performed at 8 p.m. nightly Sept. 10-14 and 2 p.m. on Sept. 14 in the center's Elizabeth Price Kenan Theatre.

Tickets are $24 to $32 and may be purchased at www.playmakersrep.org or by calling 962-PLAY.

Audience members are invited to remain after each show to listen to and participate in a discussion about the play and the issues it raises.

Anyone interested in participating as panelists after a play during the PRC2 series should contact Jeff Meanza, PlayMakers director of education and outreach, at 962-2491, meanza@email.unc.edu.

Rounding out PRC2 this season will be "The Young Ladies Of...," featuring playwright/performance artist Taylor Mac (Jan. 7-11, 2009) and Heather Raffo's "9 Parts of Desire" (April 22-26, 2009).

Visit www.playmakersrep.org for information and tickets to these shows as well as the 2008-2009 main stage season.

The main stage season will open with Shakespeare's epic adventure "Pericles," Sept. 24 to Oct. 12.

Support for PlayMakers' PRC2 series comes from the North Carolina Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.