American Players Theatre’s “Nat Turner in Jerusalem,” with Gavin Lawrence/Photo: American Players Theatre

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There’s a scene in “Nat Turner in Jerusalem” in which actor Jim DeVita shows that his character, lawyer Thomas Gray, is afraid of Gavin Lawrence’s Nat Turner.

DeVita does this by making small, mincing steps around the edge of the small prison set, trying to get as far away from the shackled Turner as possible. It’s ridiculous, since the space is too small for the two men to avoid each other. A lesser actor would have milked this for laughs and exaggerated it, but DeVita is too good for that. His action is subtle—just enough to unlock a treasure chest of revelations. Gray is afraid, Gray is trying to be dignified and failing, and the charismatic Turner can intimidate him just by standing still.

This interplay between Gray and Turner is an example of the fine acting in this production, directed by Tyrone Phillips, founding artistic director of Chicago’s Definition Theatre and staged at APT’s intimate, indoor Touchstone space. Playing for ninety intense minutes without intermission, this is theater for grownups, telling a story without easy answers. Was Turner mentally ill, leading to the slaughter of women and children because of delusional visions? Or was he a prophet, taking holy vengeance against the evil of slavery in a way that made whites actually pay attention? The 2016 play by Rockford-born Nathan Alan Davis asks what justifies violence, a question that resonates with today’s global struggles.

The play is set on the eve of Turner’s execution on November 11, 1831. A literate preacher and a slave, Turner has been charged with leading an uprising in Virginia that killed dozens of white slave owners and their families. Turner went into hiding and was captured—the beginning of the play tells this story in silence.

American Players Theatre’s “Nat Turner in Jerusalem,” with Gavin Lawrence and Jim DeVita/Photo: American Players Theatre

In prison, Turner talks to his shackles and tries to enjoy what he knows will be his last sunset. He has two visitors—a guard with whom he has formed a friendship (also DeVita), and Gray, who has researched the killings and wants to make Turner talk about them. Gray is in debt and hopes to make money on Turner’s story—in real life he writes a book called “The Confessions of Nat Turner,” which in turn inspired the William Styron novel. In the play, Turner makes Gray pay for his research by pushing him to examine his own beliefs.

As Turner, Lawrence radiates authority, seemingly lit from within. Turner has no doubt that he was on a divine mission. He gets the empathic guard to pray with him, but Gray is skeptical. He keeps pushing for details of a bigger conspiracy and is aggravated by Turner speaking in metaphors about larger truths. Turner warns that there will be no safety until there is justice.

Both DeVita and Lawrence are American Players Theatre veterans—it’s DeVita’s thirtieth season and Lawrence’s ninth. This is a talky play without much action, but the intensity of the characters’ performances keeps it engaging. We know what’s going to happen—Turner will die at dawn, and the light changes by designer Jason Lynch let us know that the time is coming. But we don’t know if Turner and Gray will break through to each other, which creates the drama. This final play in the APT’s splendid forty-fifth season has a mournful, autumnal feel, and will leave you thinking about the possibility of prophecy and the cost of justice for days to come.

“Nat Turner in Jerusalem” plays through November 10 at American Players Theatre’s Touchstone space, 5950 Golf Course Road, Spring Green, Wisconsin. For showtimes and tickets, please visit americanplayers.org.