When a play asks its actors to play multiple characters of opposing type, age, and time period, the results go in one of two directions. If the actors succeed, the versatility and character choices feel seamless and in support of the story; for the audience it’s like watching some mystical illusion they don’t even know is there. If the actors fail, the transition from one character to the other is legitimately difficult to witness, like watching someone squeeze into a pair of capris four sizes too small.  Project Rushmore’s production of Exquisite Potential asks its actors to do just this sort of switcharoo and is mostly successful in its endeavors.

The first act jumps immediately into the play’s realistically absurd premise: a young married couple are meeting with their rabbi because the father Alan (Vince Gatton) believes his three-year-old son David may be the Messiah; his uber-pregnant wife, Laura -- played here by the capable Rachel Evans -- thought they were meeting about a naming ceremony. A decent amount of fun is had as Alan works against his wife’s shock and horror to explain his 900-point documentation of David’s “miracles.” Particularly enjoyable is actor Matt Biagini’s commitment to the quirk and earnestness of the young rabbi trying to sort through a father’s logic and neuroses.

Playwright Stephen Kaplan’s first act effectively analyzes the ego of American parenting, although it does so with a good amount of exposition. Unfolding the layers of the premise takes a bit of time, and a lot of the action is three people sitting on a couch talking. Perhaps it is because of the exposition (or the couch) that I occasionally felt like I was watching talented actors weighed down by various physical choices and rhythms.

It isn’t until the second act, when the actors change characters and Kaplan’s script jumps thirty years into the future, that the play really finds its stride. Vince Gatton, Rachel Evans, and Matt Biagini are allowed to play characters that are maybe a little closer to their type, and the entire affair is free and fun. Seeing the switch, certain physical mannerisms from the first act become immediately clear as having been intelligent, mostly convincing character choices made in support of the story. Bob Ader plays the much older version of the rabbi with a wonderful wryness, and Biagini’s first-act performance becomes even more impressive in hindsight as a very successful rendering of Ader’s eccentricities. Evans is particularly delightful as bitter, foul-mouthed Beth. Gatton plays off of her with tenderness and charm, and the two of them create some compelling moments together.

I applaud the first act for succeeding as an illusion I didn’t realize I was seeing, and doing so in service of the story, although I wish it had more of the seconds act’s sense of fun, spontaneity, and poignancy. Ultimately, the payoff is an endearing, funny, and occasionally heart-wrenching look at the pressure, isolation, and rejection that high parental expectations can produce.

Exquisite Potential will be performed in rep with World of Sinatras through August 3 at the Arclight Theatre.  For more information, check out Project Rushmore's website.