Each year, the freshmen Cornerstone classes are required to attend a play put on by the ACU theater department. This year’s Cornerstone production, “Time Stands Still,” is much more than an entertainment piece, it is an invitation to discussion.

The play tells the story of Sarah (Rachel Faulkner), a photo journalist who was injured while on the job in Iraq and returns home to live with her journalist boyfriend James (Nick Palmieri). While recovering at home they are visited by their old friend Richard (Andrew Lang) and his much younger girlfriend Mandy (Hannah Browning), who they quickly label as shallow.

Together, the characters struggle to define marriage, overcome Sarah’s infidelity and adjust to a traditional lifestyle after years spent witnessing horrible events.

“Time Stands Still,” could easily be taken as a political piece because of its allusions to the war in Iraq, but Donald Margulies, the author of the play, said the play is not so much about the issues but how the characters respond to the issues.

During the rehearsal process for the show, the cast attempted to completely immerse themselves in the lives of their characters. They were lucky enough to have a Skype session with David Lesson, a war photographer from Dallas.

The cast said Lesson focused a lot on the greater good versus the greater guilt. He discussed the ethics of war photography and the complexity of dealing with such a delicate moral issue.

Andrew Lang who portrayed Richard in the play said their job as actors was essentially the same as war photographers, instead of going overseas to shoot pictures or write stories that tell truth, actors portray these universals through their plays.

“We’re telling truth of what happens and how this affects people,” Lang said.

Although “Time Stands Still” deals with intense issues of war, truth and ethics it is, at its core, a love story. The play is poignant, well acted and unsettling, leaving students with questions long after the curtain drops.