Pictured: Summer Dawn Wallace stars in Urbanite's production of 'Jennifer, Who Is Leaving'. Photo by Sorcha Augustine.

My uncle used to say a lot of things can happen at a Dunkin’ Donuts after dark, but few of them are good. Urbanite Theatre’s production of Jennifer, Who Is Leaving will have to be one of the exceptions.

Set in a snowbound Dunkin’ Donuts and to a startlingly efficient script by Morgan Gould, the story takes audiences off the less-traveled exit of a Massachusetts’ highway to where the dutiful Nan (played to perfection by Suzanne Grodner) holds court at her usual night shift, covering for a coworker (the not-to-be-underestimated Trezure B. Coles) and catering to a husband suffering from chronic self-induced helplessness. What’s unusual about this night? The arrival of the titular Jennifer—a hopelessly harried caretaker to a hopelessly cantankerous old coot. (Played by Summer Dawn Wallace and Ned Averill-Snell, respectively.)

What follows is a razor-sharp character drama that is by turns hilarious, tragic, delightful, insightful, and, surprisingly unpredictable, given the rather explicit nature of the title. Armed with compelling characters and the kind of dialogue that threatens to give you whiplash when you tear your eyes from one side of the stage to the other, eager for the next line, the show lures you in with a comic touch, charms you into submission, and, before you know it, you’ve just gleefully participated in a multi-pronged dramatic examination of the physical and emotional labor borne by women in modern society.

It is a herculean task and one this cast executes masterfully under Celine Rosenthal’s direction, delivering performances so compelling one might think they’d been rehearsing these parts all their lives.

And in a way, maybe they were.

When emotions hit fever pitch, it’s even possible to forget you’re watching a play at all. And when the proverbial curtain drops, it feels more like an interruption than a conclusion. You can’t believe it’s already over—and you’re hungry for more.

Currently onstage at Urbanite Theatre, Jennifer, Who Is Leaving runs through Dec. 1.

Pictured: Summer Dawn Wallace stars in Urbanite's production of 'Jennifer, Who Is Leaving'. Photo by Sorcha Augustine.