Nicholas Koesters does it again.

Sarah Morton dares to start slowly in the beginning of her story, but the bigger risk she pulls off in this world premiere play is to lead the audience to believe that this is Lilia's story while letting us gradually catch on that it's really Nathan's.

Like the night-blooming plant he's flying Nan Wray's Lilia to watch, Nicholas Koesters's Nathan is closed down almost completely. What has to align in his life is as extraordinary as the hundred-year timeframe and precise cycle of the moon it takes to open the flower. Part of Morton's risk in this play is starting off with a character so closed down that he can barely talk. The rest of the risk is hoping an actor who can bring it off gets the role. Koesters brings enormous intensity to Nathan's silences and bitten-off responses to Nan Wray's ebullient Lilia. I think the audience gets it that Lilia, no less than Nathan, is spikily armored, each in his or her own way, sooner than Morton estimates they will, though that is by no means the opinion of everyone who saw it.

Nan Wray brings off Lilia's hidden pain through her outer exuberance with subtlety and power, and a good thing, too. Koesters's performance shines so brightly that without Wray's skill the play would be lopsided. That's another fine risk Morton takes and this time it is brought off by the excellent direction of Eric Schmiedl. He has ensured that Wray and Koesters play off each other with balance and verve, so neither dominates the other.

David Hansen does an excellent job of transitioning from character to character, and holds his own on the stage with Koesters and Wray. Samuel Holloway skillfully brings the pivotal character of Elroy to twistedly effective life. The lighting, by Maureen Patterson, is almost another character on the stage.

Gradually we see circumstances line up so that Lilia and Nathan begin to open up not so much to, as in front of, each other, as they search through the former desert (paved into sterility by the terrorized authorities) for the flower they have begun to fear has been destroyed. Along the way they meet a variety of other characters, well-played by Courtney Schloss, David Hansen, Teresa McDonough, and Rachel Appelbaum, some of whom are searching for another missing flower, a daughter, lost in "The Incident" that precipitated paving the desert. Hopes start to fray as the play intensifies toward the impact of its ending.

The searches these characters are all engaged in come together powerfully. Wray is consistently good as the plot tightens down, and Hansen and McDonough each bring a sort of horrified intensity to Holloway's character's final action, and Koesters blows the roof off the place.

Not only is Sarah Morton's writing strong and excellent, Nick Koesters is extraordinary. Don't miss this. From Cool Cleveland contributor Marcus Bales marcusATdesignerglass.com (:divend:)