The early scenes of playwright Richard Martin Hirsch’s elegantly melancholic drama take place in 1969, as a trio of high school pals hit the road on a youthful cross-country journey. Forty years on, one of the pals, sporting goods magnate Paul (Bruce Nozick), is called to the bedside of his estranged former pal G. (Daniel Kash), who is dying from a stroke. As the reunion unfolds, the elaborate mystery of why the three childhood friends drifted apart gradually is revealed. Events are shown in flashback and in meandering order, and incidents that at first seem astonishingly important in one period of time turn out to mean something different when filtered through time’s lens. Director Darin Anthony’s beautifully nuanced production of the play, which engrossingly captures the emotions underlying midlife masculinity, is full of mature humor that shifts suddenly into scathing sadness Ñ and the performances possess a sense of powerfully truthful detail. Nozick’s neurotic, middle-aged businessman’s realization that disappointment is often the result of youthful hope and ambition is a deft turn. Also laudable are Kash and Mandy June Turpin as G.’s wife, whose performance as a character aging from 19 to middle age is beautifully rendered.

Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Starts: May 18. Continues through June 24, 2012

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