When Red Mountain Theatre presents the musical “Sam’s Room” as part of its Human Rights New Works Festival this week, the young actor playing the title character will have a special connection to the work about a neurodivergent teenager.

Birmingham’s Jacob Fiveash, the oldest of triplets born at 26 weeks, is neurodivergent and on the autism spectrum, and his brother Nick, like Sam in “Sam’s Room,” is neurodivergent and nonverbal.

“My brother Nick has cerebral palsy, and he cannot speak,” says Jacob, who often takes care of his brother.

From left, triplets Jacob, Nick and Hannah Fiveash. (Photo courtesy of Laura Fiveash)

So while Jacob has been on stage in shows such as “Legally Blonde” and “Elf,” “Sam’s Room” is close to the heart of the 22-year-old actor. Not only is he playing a young man who, like his brother, doesn’t speak, but as someone with autism, the show hits home personally as well.

“Sam’s Room” is a pop concert dramedy about Sam, who is nonverbal but has a pop star alter ego in Sammy Star. While Jacob plays Sam, two other actors portray other speaking characters, including Sammy.

“There are some very tough scenes that I have to go through,” Jacob says. “Doing a panic attack is not easy in acting. It requires a lot of practice. As a person with anxiety, I’ve been in those kinds of situations before.

“There’s also a scene where a character dies and several scenes where I get bullied. Although it was all acting, I’ve had experience in real life with bullies,” Jacob adds.

Rehearsal for “Sam’s Room” took Jacob and his mother, Laura, to New York, where Jacob worked with the writers, actors and director.

“I’ve never been away from home for that long, so I had to step out of my comfort zone a lot during those 10 days,” Jacob says.

Jacob Fiveash in New York for rehearsals of “Sam’s Room.” (Photo courtesy of Laura Fiveash)

But all went well.

“We were completely blown away by the passion and the kindness of these professional musicians and writers and actors and directors that Jacob got to spend time with in New York,” says Laura, who is head of school at Birmingham’s Spring Valley School (his father, John, is a radiation oncologist and neuro oncologist at UAB). “They have been working on this show for the past 10 years. They all have someone in their life that either works with individuals who are neurodiverse or have a neurodiverse family member. They were so accommodating to Jacob.”

Jacob has enjoyed the experience, and his mother has enjoyed watching him grow through it, including being a bit independent during their trip to New York. He rehearsed while she was working remotely in another room – at times walking across the street to grab a piece of pizza.

“If you were to say to me five years ago that Jacob was going to go to New York and be that independent I would have said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding,’” Laura says. She says that neurodivergent children with the ability can thrive given patience and belief from those around them.

“It would be easy for me to wrap him up in a bubble because I don’t want him to get hurt, but that’s not reality, even though he’s had these difficult stressors in his life,” she says.

This is a big week for Jacob. Not only is “Sam’s Room” on tap, but on Thursday, he’ll be honored as the ARC of Shelby County employee of the year (Jacob works one day a week at Five Below).

Jacob hopes to do more acting, both on stage and behind the microphone.

He already can do 75 character voices, from Nintendo’s Mario and Luigi to Mickey Mouse and Patrick Star from “SpongeBob SquarePants.” And he’s studying animation online.

“I’m hoping to make full animated shows in the near future, and I’d like to collaborate with others who are neurodiverse,” he says.

You can see some of his animation work on his YouTube Channel, but it mostly showcases a series he calls “Uncaged Zoo Tours,” which takes him to zoos around the country.

He’s already taken 53 tours, and he has 13 more planned for this year.

“I started posting videos during the pandemic,” Jacob says. “During the pandemic, my YouTube channel gave me something to do during our time in quarantine. I decided to take my love of animals and combine it with my YouTube channel, and ‘Uncaged Zoo Tours’ was born.” (For the record, Jacob lists the Birmingham Zoo, the Fort Worth Zoo and the North Carolina Zoo as among his favorites).

More zoos are in his future, but first comes “Sam’s Room,” which Jacob hopes will be instructive for those who see it.

“I hope it will lead to an understanding of neurodiversity,” he says.

Red Mountain Theatre’s Human Rights New Works Festival features three works over three days:

“She Reached for Heaven” (Friday at 7:30 p.m.): A new musical about addiction, inspired by Johann Hari’s TED Talk “Everything You Know About Addiction is Wrong.”

“Sam’s Room” (Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.): A pop concert dramedy about Sam, a nonspeaking teenager, who has a fantasy life as pop star Sammy Star. The 2 p.m. performance will be sensory friendly.

“Four Little Girls: Birmingham 1963” (Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.): A play that imagines the lives of the four little girls killed in the bombing of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church had they been able to grow up.

Learn more about Red Mountain Theatre at redmountaintheatre.org.