Abby Pierce (right) as Anne gets Laura T. Fischer as Candice, blinded from an injury, to repeat her Caribou Coffee order for possible use in her podcast in a scene from “Naperville,” playing through Nov. 6 at TheaterWit in Chicago. (Photo by Charles Osgood)

Jeremy Wechsler’s limited acting ability got him in front of audiences – just in a different way.

“I’ve always loved theater. I grew up in (Chicago’s) Lakeview neighborhood and went to all the theaters,” said Wechsler, director of “Naperville,” which is playing at Theater Wit in Chicago through Nov. 6. “In college, I realized I was a terrible actor.

“I said, ‘This is not how I can stay connected to the art form.’”

He got the opportunity to direct a play and the rest is history. Wechsler has directed more than 60 plays during the last 20 years at various Chicago theaters.

Wechsler said he was drawn to “Naperville,” a play set in the state’s fourth biggest city, because of its unique perspective.

“It pulled me to it being hyper-local,” Wechsler said. “It’s a play I’ve never seen before, about the advantages and dynamics of living in the suburbs.

Andrew Jessop plays T.C., manager of the Naperville Caribou Coffee, a dramatic comedy set in the suburb, which is playing at TheaterWit in Chicago. (Photo by Charles Osgood)

“Literature loves small town and loves big cities. This play is kind of a talking mechanism on the various states of crisis revealed beautifully in the quintessential suburban setting. It is about how universally people need each other. It has its finger on the interpersonal mechanism of social and suburban life.”

The play had been slated to close in mid-October, but its popularity has led to a three-week extension, the director said.

Written by Mat Smart, a Naperville native and graduate of Waubonsie Valley High School, the play is a dramatic comedy about high school crushes, curfews, sight and how beauty reveals itself in the suburbs.

All the action takes place in a Naperville Caribou Coffee, where men’s Olympic figure skating champion Evan Lysacek once hung out.

Born, raised and living in Chicago, Wechsler made several trips out to Naperville when preparing to direct the play. He said he wanted to see the suburb and talk to the people living there to make sure he was portraying them, and the suburb, fairly.

“I wanted to make sure the cast and I did not have so many opinions that it would impact our work,” Wechsler said. “I wanted to get a sense of the community and make sure my own preconceptions about the town didn’t come through.”

Wechsler said he didn’t want to paint too dark or too rosy of a picture of suburban life in the play.

“I’m not sure a city person sees this as says, “I have to move to Naperville’ or says ‘Oh, everything I thought was true about the suburbs is.’”

The director said many people come to the play thinking it is going to rip the suburban lifestyle as so many performances do.

“Audiences come in with expectations. They expect it is going to make fun of Naperville or the suburbs in general,” he said.

Wechsler said during 90 minutes audiences find themselves feeling empathy for the characters and are pushed to reconsider their own boundaries.

“In any works I do, I want to make sure a person’s horizons are always broadened,” Wechsler said.

Performances are at 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays, through Nov. 6, at Theater Wit, 1229 N. Belmont, Chicago. To purchase tickets, visit TheaterWit.org or call 773-975-8150.