When the house lights go dark at Woolly Mammoth in Northwest D.C., signaling the start of “The Great Privation (How to flip ten cents into a dollar),” audiences are taken on a time-traveling journey as characters confront the realities of racism, health and economic disparities, taboo conversations, and buried truths.

Set on a burial ground turned campsite, the new work by Nia Akilah Robinson , running at Woolly Mammoth until Oct. 12, reveals how time and the truth catches up to people and — through a struggling and grieving mother-daughter duo in the 1830s and modern-day colleagues at a summer camp — showcases the ever-true tale of people working to survive despite hard times.

“‘The Great Privation,’ for me, alludes to the great lack of resources. And the second part of the title

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