Lawson Taitte

You expect to shed a few tears when a play's characters include a bedridden old man, his sister with a shattered back, a woman who discovers she has leukemia and a boy on leave from a mental institution. You might not necessarily expect a lot of laughs.

Marvin's Room, one of the most enduring dramas of the 1990s, provokes ample emotion of both sorts. Contemporary Theatre of Dallas' new revival, reviewed Saturday, starts out particularly strong on the comic side but doesn't stint on the sentiment.

Cindee Mayfield is at the center of it all as Bessie, who has been taking care of her ill father and aunt for years without complaint. We first see her getting some tests in a doctor's office, where an eccentric new physician (Nye Cooper) doesn't inspire a great deal of confidence. When she returns home, she has to deal with her cheerfully vacant Aunt Ruth (Susan McMath Platt), who can't remember anything except the time her favorite soap opera comes on.

Director Cynthia Hestand, who won awards for staging the first Dallas production of Scott McPherson's script more than a decade ago, allows Mr. Cooper and Ms. Platt to paint their characters with bold, though precise, comic strokes. Ms. Mayfield's bewilderment and exasperation, on the other hand, are played straight, making her an island of sanity in the midst of craziness.

We first see Bessie's estranged sister, Lee (Sue Loncar), as she visits her elder son, Hank (Matt Savins), in the hospital where he has been confined after a major episode of acting out. Lee and Hank are always at each other's throats; he only says yes to her proposal to visit Bessie because it gets him out of a place he hates.

The core of Marvin's Room is the growing relationship that develops between the troubled Hank and his gentle Aunt Bessie. Ms. Mayfield sketches out Bessie's affection for the boy with the utmost delicacy, and Mr. Savins strikes a good balance between Hank's gruff exterior and the craving for love and attention within.

Ms. Loncar is sometimes over-emphatic in her earlier scenes. But as Bessie's health grows worse and Lee strives to get closer to her, Ms. Loncar delivers all the poignancy you could ask for. She and Ms. Mayfield are an experienced team, but the other cast members give them plenty of support.

PLAN YOUR LIFE Through April 27 at Contemporary Theatre of Dallas. Runs 135 mins. $27 to $32. 214-828-0094; www.contemporarytheatreof dallas.com.

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