Clark Gregg and Tina Benko Photo by Laurel Hinton

David Ives is a deft writer whose works include All in the Timing and Venus in Fur. Director Walter Bobbie has collaborated with Ives multiple times and Bobbie's detailed leadership fuels Pamela Palmer. Patrons sit close by (the space evokes that of TheaterWorks Hartford to an extent), which facilitates an immediacy.

It is the present day at Wishwood (which just might be an estate in Greenwich, Connecticut) and everything transpires within the confines of one very posh room. Scenic designer Alexander Woodward places an almost too comfortable looking velour sofa toward the rear of the stage amid some distinctively tall potted plants. Amanda Roberge dresses Pamela Palmer (Tina Benko) in a soft, sky blue dress which she wears for the full ninety minutes of the performance.

Pamela has summoned a Detective (Clark Gregg) to report that she believes she has done something wrong but cannot determine what that might be. One gets the sense that the Detective thinks he will get out of this place quickly, but Pamela's conversation holds him. He listens to Pamela wax on about her life and at one point he just asks, outright, "Do you want me to kill your husband?"

Pamela's Mother (Becky Ann Baker) makes a brief appearance and soon thereafter Pamela's Husband (Max Gordon Moore) arrives on the scene. He wears a fine suit of clothes, speaks with a distinctive British accent, and makes some attempt to understand his wife. Ives then clears the stage for a verbal exchange between the Detective and the Husband. When the Detective asks the Husband why he, the Detective, is there, the Husband notes that Pamela has been acting strangely and seems guilty. He hopes the Detective can figure out just what bothers her.

It's all quite delectable that one cannot guess just where Ives is going. Bobbie maximizes the use of the stage, and the actors are often in motion. There's ebb and flow within various situations and Ives provides a fresh, inviting script. The playwright tosses laugh-out-loud, zinging lines of dialogue which are quite logical, and some non sequiturs at other moments, as well. Ives, who first thought Pamela Palmer might bec a novel, writes crisply.

Tina Benko (most recently viewed in New York City in Appropriate) is spot on with her portrayal of Pamela Palmer, a complicated soul who does not seem to understand either what she wants or what might possibly bring her happiness. Clark Gregg, personifying a detective who walks into a convoluted scene, helped found the Atlantic Theater Company and was artistic director there. He has numerous New York theatre credits and will soon be seen in Netflix's "Zero Day." Gregg was also part of TV's "The West Wing." Max Gordon Moore, the Husband here, has been cast in shows on and off Broadway, while Becky Ann Baker has been featured on television series such as "Freaks and Geeks" and "Ted Lasso." As a stage actress, she was in original company productions of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Titanic, and many others.

Pamela Palmer is an organic play, distinctive because it will not fit neatly within the confines of a known genre. It is part drama, romance, mystery as it evolves and probes through Pamela's quest to figure out what she has done. Moreover, she is a woman somewhere in middle age who is searching for self-comprehension and purpose. In that sense, this Ives work is universal, as he, though the characters, probes human existence.

Williamstown Theatre Festival was often thought, with good reason, to have been a summer playground and special place for starry actors. More recently, however, it has been in transition. Their presentation of Pamela Palmer is an exciting return to exemplary form.

Pamela Palmer runs through August 10, 2024, at Williamstown Theatre Festival, CenterStage Theater, 1000 Main St., Williamstown MA. For tickets and information, please call 413-458-3253 or visit wtfestival.org.