Four years ago, two mothers at Raleigh's St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church started a small theater company called Justice Theater Project, hoping to use stage performance to address social issues such as poverty, racism and the death penalty.

The company closed its latest season with "The Line in the Sand: Stories from the U.S./Mexico Border," a production about the debate over immigration and border control.

"We are not trying to change people's minds," says Royals-Mizerk, the group's co-founder and artistic director. "We are creating a space for people to start a dialogue."

"I want to move people into action with story," says Carnessa Ottelin, who directed the play. Ottelin calls theater artists "myth keepers." She says oral tradition -- the way knowledge has been handed down for centuries -- is dying out in the age of YouTube.

"I think we are responsible to carry on those stories and lessons," she says.

The company will open its next season with "Mother Courage and Her Children" in collaboration with UNC-Chapel Hill.

At left, Sean Brosnahan and Deb Royals-Mizerk perform in "The Line in the Sand" at Cardinal Gibbons Performing Arts Center.