Brian Harlan Brooks leans forward against the table. He’s passionate about the storytelling process, but more than that, he’s passionate about his most recent artistic effort. It holds a special place for him.

“The color is a metaphor for what’s inside of everybody that often gets ignored,” he clasps his hand together and continues. “The color purple represents a part of every human that we don’t acknowledge. We don’t understand its brilliance. That idea of purple — being the essence of the people is my favorite character. It’s the intangible.”

Brooks is directing “The Color Purple” at Cape Fear Regional Theatre, debuting in May.

Just two days into rehearsals, Brooks sits beside Amitria Fanae and Toneisha Harris, who play Celie and Shug Avery, respectively. The three laugh and joke but ultimately become deeply engrossed in each other’s inspirational words, nodding along as the others talk. This story means a lot to each of them. They all recount the ways it has touched them.

“The color purple is not a major color. It’s something that you have to create from other colors. I think it’s so important in life. Our lives are made up of pieces that we take from so many other things, and it helps us to discover who we are,” Harris said.

Harris plays the “sexy, fierce” but equally “broken and fragile” Shug Avery. Harris said she went to her closet upon receiving the role and wondered what could help her embody the character best; in the end, she felt that embodying the authenticity of Shug was the true journey into the character and the key to successfully playing this part. It was a sentiment that Fanae shared.

“Even if this story was not a story I could connect with personally, it’s someone else’s story. I owe it to the writer and the individual’s whose story it might be, to tell the truth,” Fanae said.

The musical is based upon the book by Alice Walker, “The Color Purple.” It tells a story about a Black woman, Celie, who is often abused by the men in her life and surrounded by other Black women in her community going through some of the same struggles. It is a story about resilience. It is a story about love. While the subject matter might be tough at times, the actors want it also to give a message of hope to the audience.

“I’m hoping that telling this story today, it’ll help someone know they don’t have to stay in a story like that. It’s not pretty at all. It’s very ugly. Art is the imitation of life. There’s a journey through it,” Harris said. “That’s what I hope that we can accomplish.”

The story, Brooks said, “balances the sublime and the disgusting” but the message of hope is always there. The joy is laced throughout the story. The belief in self, he said, was in the story from the beginning. For Brooks and the other actors, purple itself is a journey inside oneself — one the audience can take as well.

“My favorite words [in this play] are God is inside you and everything else,” Brooks said. “It allows you to understand the ‘it’ you are looking for is a part of you. Purple is an inward journey. When you are looking outside of yourself, you’ll never find it … I think it’s a message that can change people just from hearing it.”

“The Color Purple” debuts May 5 and runs through May 29. Tickets are on sale at Cfrt.org. Military appreciation night will be May 11 and teacher appreciation night will be May 13. The musical is rated M for mature.