Two half-brothers half a world apart face the decline of their mother in Samuel D. Hunter’s “Grangeville” currently on at The Pershing Square Signature Center’s Alice Griffen Jewel Box Theatre. The mood of the conversations between forty-something Arnold (Brian J. Smith) who lives in Rotterdam and his older half-brother Jerry (Paul Sparks) who still lives in Grangeville, Idaho range from indifference to endearing during this dynamic ninety-minute two-hander.

Both men are having difficulty with their spouses and their home/work environments. Jerry is burdened with the care of his mother. Arnold is finding it difficult to create more successful art works. It becomes clear during their phone calls that part of their ennui results from their childhood time together in Grangeville.

Under Jack Serio’s deft direction, Brian J. Smith and Paul Sparks bring believability and authenticity to their fractured characters Arnold and Jerry (and the other characters they portray throughout the well-written narrative). Stacey Derosier’s lighting leaves the half-brothers in semi-darkness which allows the actors to rely on their craft to carefully peel back the layers of dysfunction, sadness, betrayal, and abuse that shattered both their lives. Smith and Sparks dive deeply into the emotional matrix that has driven them apart and enabled them to reconcile.

Confession, forgiveness, and redemption are the major themes in this outstanding narrative.