Sometimes memories create the reality we wish we had: other times, those memories reveal life-changing secrets. At the end of life, that line between what was and what might have been is wavy and wavering.

This examination is at the heart of Preservation, presented by First Look Buffalo, onstage at the lovely Canterbury Wood Performing Arts Center to February 7. It’s a new play by emerging playwright Deborah Yarchun and it folds in some heavy themes: aging, parental drug abuse, old love, maybe new love (or not), and the affirmation of identity which haunts the elderly and baffles their heirs.

This is a three-hander with Sarah Emmerling as Lydia, Lanie Shannon as her grandmother Stella, and Rick Lattimer as Stan as an archivist who holds the key – literally – to a family secret which Lydia is eager to learn.

Emmerling is properly conflicted as the recent college grad returning to her grandmother’s home as her caregiver. She’s determined to find a way to help Stella manage her financial burdens, and there’s the undercurrent of resentment, fear, and frustration that’s part of every caregiver’s reality. She’s also curious about her grandmother’s secret: is this now-deceased mystery man who endowed a nearby library really her grandfather?

Lattimer is the archivist, eager to get promoted, and a natural rule-follower, but when Lydia wanders into what should be a secured space in the library, protocol starts falling by the wayside. He encourages her curiosity about the elusive Abraham, a man of integrity and purity who may have had a long-ago dalliance with Stella. There’s a silver box with contents which must remain sequestered. Stella has told Lydia that box contains their love letters; but does it?

Shannon has the toughest job on stage: she’s coping with fading memories and a compromising medical diagnosis. Shannon’s gestures and countenance tell Stella’s sad story with poignancy and melancholy. She does this very well, convincingly, and it touched my heart.

Yarchun’s script suffers from some gaps in her storytelling, while the essence of her story has the potential to be very compelling. Director Lara D. Haberberger does admirable work in coaxing the very best from her cast, but even with some clever projection by Anthony Backman to complement Sarah Waechter’s set design, something in the story falls flat.

Preservation is presented in one 85-minute act with no intermission. I love this company’s commitment to presenting new work with smaller casts in this lovely and intimate setting. Find tickets and season information at https://www.firstlookbuffalo.com/