In his 1954 book called The Natural House, Frank Lloyd Wright wrote that a house is more of a home when it is a work of art and that “integrity would become more natural…living within a house wherein everything is genuine and harmonious, a new sense of freedom gives one a new sense of life.”

Well. Playwright T. Adamson’s Maxum Mazumdar New Play Competition winner The Natural Horse, on stage now at Alleyway Theatre, takes Wright’s philosophy and spins it around a few times. What emerges is a story about a Russian-American family struggling to find its own domestic harmony while living in a mid-century home with a feral horse.

Indeed. It’s as absurd as it sounds. That’s one of the things I respect and admire about Alleyway and its priorities as a presenting stage. Executive Artistic Director Chris J. Handley and his team are true risk takers and unashamedly present shows that wouldn’t find a home on other stages in WNY and this uniqueness is celebrated. As audience members, we’re all the better for it, even if we leave the theatre scratching our heads over what we just saw.

Philip Farugia and Aleks Malejs are Anton and Svetka Karenina, parents of 17 year old Masha (Christine Turturro) and younger sister Lil Gemini (Annette Daniels Taylor). It’s Masha who found and brought home the horse who she named Good Boy and brought him into the family home. Literally. There’s the typical sibling agita with Masha eager to stretch her wings and Lil Gemini’s flights of imaginative fancy. Papa Anton spends his time building a space for himself in the basement and Mama Svetka is a busy residential architect while expecting baby number three. Like every family, they squabble, they cope, the kids explore their boundaries, the parents ponder their choices. And then there’s Good Boy. Sometimes he talks. Sometimes he poops. And once in a while he does things on the sofa that Mr. Ed never would have done in Wilbur’s house. In some odd way, he’s the unifying factor for this family, the same way that shape and symmetry bring unity to Wright’s iconic designs. Good Boy is wonderfully played by Todd Benzin in front (until he steps out to play Kirk, Good Boy’s next owner and then Farugia takes over) and Yamilex Holguin Perez in the rear (who is also Masha’s bestie Charlotte).

There are some interesting stage titles, projected and voiced, in both Russian and English. Some of this narrative is about Wright’s life and career (full disclosure: I’ve volunteered at the Darwin Martin House for more than 20 years and some of the information proffered in these snippets aren’t exactly on target) and while they may have been crafted to bring clarity to the script, I found them more confusing.

Malejs does a fine job as the weary, busy working mom. She and Farugia sustained their Russian accents well. While I’m not a fan of adult portraying kids, Taylor’s poufy pigtails and magpie chattering is the perfect foil played against Turturro’s teen-on- the-cusp-of-womanhood. Benzin as Kurt is a stitch: a salesman with a gift for gab and verbosity to spare.

There are some lovely and very tender moments here: when Masha sneaks out to sled on a dark and snowy night and Charlotte joins her, Emma Schimminger’s lighting design and softly falling faux snow is elegant and makes the dialogue even more poignant. And when the baby is born, there’s a lovely tenderness between the mom and the sisters.

All told, it’s a different look at family life…with a live-in equine. The Natural Horse runs an hour and 45-minutes with no intermission (get your beverage in the snazzy Alleyway sippy cup before you enter) to November 11. Book your tickets at www.alleyway.com. While you’re on the website, check out #Enough Plays to End Gun Violence on November 6. This is a national event for high school students; it’s an evening of readings hosted in theatres and schools for teens to demonstrate their commitment to a future without gun violence. Another reason to respect the good work done here at Alleyway.