“Luke Nicholas” is the quintessential example of what should be found at the ongoing NY International Fringe Festival. It is good theater, refreshing, new, innovative and well written, always keeping the audience engaged with surprising twists and turns. It examines the parameters of an open gay relationship testing boundaries only to realize what is required to survive the sometimes ugly, hurtful and unintentional battles. Dissected, the script is simple, the sum of its parts propels it to a complicated, and intriguing “art imitates life” or vice versa, turn of events.

The plot revolves around a playwright, his husband and a bisexual stripper. To reveal more is not necessary and would affect audience viewing pleasure. It concerns trust, truth, limits, lust, love and priorities that affect, build or destroy a relationship. It is human, real, raw and honest in depicting present day social mores.

The three cast members Sean Hankinson, Colin Key and Jason Zeren are excellent in their roles, each defining and redefining their characters and are deftly guided through the script with ease by writer director Tim Aumiller, except in a few scenes where the pace drags. They are polished, skilled actors that breathe life into the dialogue making the script more believable and capturing every moment available. One questions whether the stripper’s pole dance was purely gratuitous, albeit a crowd pleaser noticing audience reaction and certainly verifying the promotional photo advertising the show. For those timid theatergoers: do not forgo this production for this play is about so much more than sex and nudity and will surely entertain.