On April 4, 1968, this city melted into an incurable blaze from the H Street Corridor to 14th and U as broadcasters announced the death of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. No longer content to choke down the inequalities of their generation, rioters tore the nation’s capital to shreds over three harrowing days, injuring more than 1,000 and destroying nearly as many storefronts. It took 13,000 federal troops to contain the crisis, and even they couldn’t stop the deaths of 12 D.C. residents.

Some forty years later, playwright K.W. Kuchar felt it was time those moments were brought to the stage. After just over two years of research, Kuchar’s completed work, ‘Ten/thirtyfour’, will make its world premiere as part of the Capital Fringe Festival on Saturday at the Warehouse Theatre. Kuchar talked to DCist recently about his work’s upcoming premiere and his trek into one of the District’s darkest times.