Posner said that he decided to write the play after he heard a radio interview with Lopez and the responses; Posner recalled that "caller would say it was brilliant, and another would say he [Lopez didn't understand anything at all." After having read the novel, he decided that it would become his next project. Posner traveled to North Philadelphia to talk to community leaders and residents on several occasions while he was writing the play. In 1997 he said "I don't pretend to be anything but a total outsider in that neighborhood. I'm a somewhat more comfortable and somewhat more informed outsider now." Steve Lopez had no part in the play's production. According to Posner, he and Lopez met on several occasions while Posner was adapting the play. Posner offered for Lopez to be a consultant, but Lopez said that he had too many commitments at the time. Posner said that Lopez had a "supportive attitude" and told him "I wrote the novel; you write the play." Lopez said that Posner told him that the play would probably have a different focus on the novel. Posner did not restrict casting of Gabriel and Ofelia Santoro according to their races in the novel. He said "I concluded the story was universal enough that it wasn't hooked into the Latino experience. I looked for the best combination of actors I could find to play the kid and the mother." Ultimately two African-Americans were cast as those two characters.