John Dirrigl’s heartwrenching play The Bauer Sisters unfolds in one afternoon on Rosie’s farm in Connecticut: it is 1986, and the women of the local German American club have gathered to prepare and enjoy lunch together.

The women’s dynamic friendship is hilarious. Mr. Dirrigl has written five (six including the cast’s lone male, Louie) unique, vastly different, rich characters within this tiny cultural enclave: a rural, aging German immigrant community. The women may as well be family; they’ve known each other so closely for so long. No one is surprised to learn of Ingie’s plan to move to Florida (with her accompanying “moon maiden” costume), or when Anna admonishes Mary, “Your apron is spotless. Aren’t you ashamed?” The women banter and gossip about their beloved German club and about each other. They are sharp witted and strongly opinionated. The way they behave around one another is endearing and poignant.

Humor is consistent throughout The Bauer Sisters, but each character struggles with marriage, family, aging, and death. Mr. Dirrigl’s ability to layer in complex histories and suppressed trauma makes this lighthearted luncheon a battleground: each woman confronts personal tragedy whether she expects to or not. Among the friends, Rosie and Ingie are actually family -- the play’s title sisters. Ingie has recently come to live with Rosie after her husband’s death. Rosie’s husband, and their two sons, died 25 years earlier in a car crash. Rosie survived the accident, but has blamed herself ever since. We witness a family’s treacherous past come to light through the sisters’ radically different perspectives of it.

The performances are powerful and nuanced, and it is a pleasure to watch this cast work together. Deborah Unger (Rosie) goes to hell and back in this play, and her honesty, openness, and determination are cathartic. Rosie’s journey is intense and hard fought, and rarely is it so rewarding to see a character succeed in the end. The Bauer Sisters is a play about reconciling the past and finding hope for the future. It’s a beautiful production, and I hope it has a long life beyond its premiere in the Midtown International Theatre Festival.

The Bauer Sisters is presented as part of the Midtown International Theatre Festival.  For more on MITF productions, go to www.midtownfestival.org