Hurt people hurt people.

That’s a succinct way to sum up the Pulitzer Prize (for Drama) and Tony-nominated play Becky Shaw on stage now at Alleyway Theatre.

It’s a quirky twist on the dysfunctional family comedy: Susanna’s father has passed away (two months ago, she says when it’s really four months passed), and Max, the family financial advisor/ersatz relative is trying to organize a family discussion about the state of the estate. Susan the widow has already moved on to Lester who may or may not have her best interests at heart. Grief and family secrets are getting in the way of the practicalities. Just when you think it couldn’t get any quirkier, Susanna meets gentle soul Andrew on a ski trip and after a brief romance and Vegas wedding, try to set up Max with Andrew’s sensitive work pal Becky Shaw. While opposites might attract, sometimes they repel…but that’s not the end of the story. It’s not even the middle of the story. And oh what a story it is.

Becky Shaw (the story, not the character) is full of angst and agita amidst the poignant laughs. It’s sometimes brusque and brutal. This cast under Chris J Handley’s direction has it all covered.

Amanda Funicello is Susanna, the grief-stricken daughter who is embracing the best of her late father’s memories. I saw more of her sass than her sadness, but that made her character even more likeable. Rick Lattimer is perfectly detestable as Max, the son of family friends who comes to live with Susanna and her parents as a young man and builds deep bonds. Tammy Hayes McGovern is a hoot as Susan, the mom, who moves through life without fully grasping her reality. The way she thumps her walking stick on the floor to command even more attention is hilarious. Anthony J. Grande is Susanna’s husband Andrew, a sweet and sensitive poet-barista-office manager who lives and loves purely. Finally Stefanie Warwick is the titular Becky, fragile, traumatized, and ready to latch on to the man who will take care of her whether he wants to or not.

It’s a good cast with some killer dialogue and plenty of depth to a story that is rife with emotion without being maudlin. This is one of those shows that lingers in your head as you drive home as you sort through the nuances underneath a seemingly simple storyline.

Emma Schimminger’s sound design captures the right tunes of the time (the action takes place in 2007-08). The one major distraction was the set itself. Usually Alleyway’s sets are distinctive: sometimes sparse and spare for purpose, other times detailed and complex and perfect. This one was….magenta. Lots of magenta-painted (and pickeled for shading and shadows) wood that awkwardly was pushed to and fro, with set pieces moved about in almost full light. It was unusual and didn’t add to the storytelling in any determinable way.

Becky Shaw is a perfect addition to the Alleyway canon with its mission to present new works. It’s a fresh take on complex family stories that provokes deep thought and still can make you laugh, albeit at sometimes dark moments. Alleyway’s cast does Gina Gionfriddo’s script proud.

Becky Shaw runs about two hours (act one has some dragging moment, act two has some of the beefiest dialogue and storytelling) with a brief intermission to October 3. Find details and tickets at https://www.alleyway.com/