When local playwright Marissa Gregoris decided to take Second City classes years ago, it was because she heard you didn’t have to be funny.

So it seems ironic that Gregoris has since earned three Canadian Comedy Award nominations – the latest for her Fringe Festival hit, It’s Just a Phase.

“The thing to remember when you’re doing comedy is, don’t try to be funny,” Gregoris says. “Even though [Phase] is very campy and over-the-top, what’s really funny in it is everything that’s true about the characters. That’s what funny is. It’s about realism.”

The musical, which runs at Theatre Passe Muraille until Sunday, stars Nicole Wilson as a young lesbian, Alexis, whose mother (Tracey Beltrano) tries to convert her to heterosexuality after a breakup by setting her up with a friend’s son (Mark Nimeroski). As Alexis finds a new love (Nicole Stamp), her sister (Gregoris) deals with her own conflicted sexual identity.

“What I hope the play does,” Gregoris explains, “is make a gay story really normal for people. It’s a family dynamic, a family situation, dealing with ordinary problems: your mother doesn’t approve of who you’re dating. Everyone can relate to that.”

Candice Gregoris, the playwright’s sister, directed the show. The pair has worked together frequently as members of the sketch troupe CAMARO.

Candice Gregoris sees a message of love and acceptance in the story.

“Mamma Rita wants her kids happy and healthy,” she says, “but she has a narrow way of defining that. [Phase] is about listening to what the other person says about what really makes them happy. And part of loving people is understanding and accepting them. It’s about growing in love, which sounds so cheesy, but it’s true.”

There’s also a small political message, according to the playwright.

“There’s one line where [the father] says how he’s happy to live in a country where his daughters are free to make whatever choices they want,” Marissa Gregoris says. “I have friends who are refugees specifically because they’re lesbians. In their own countries, that’s an offense people would shoot them for.

“We should be extraordinarily thankful for what we have and fight to keep those rights, not just for ourselves but for others.”

Phase, which has expanded from last year’s one-hour production, is competing with Second City’s Barack to the Future, along with two Bad Dog Theatre shows, in the CCAs’ Best Comedic Play or Revue category.