Corinna May and Allyn Burrows Photo by Nile Scott Studios

Frangione grew up on Cape Cod and this play features siblings, their accents thick and ringing truly, first situated in a hospital room. This late spring day, working class Tom is visiting his sister, who had an accident after her shopping cart somehow smacked a Subaru. Sheila references "losing her marbles" at a later point and it's clear her plight involves mental rather than physical decline. We hear of Lacey, a sister, but never see her. Shiela's daughter, with whom she has a fraught relationship, lives a few thousand miles away. The main characters reside in a fishing village on the Cape.

The first act is filled with anecdotes and stories. Frangione injects comedy, whether it be dark or wry as, for example, Sheila talks about an incident where she "popped a cop." Thomas is ragged and rugged but he genuinely cares about his sister and he does not want to lose her.

Set designer Patrick Brennan, during intermission, shifts the scene, a week later, to Sheila's living room, with well-worn furnishings and a couple of throws that cover couch and chair. While the first portion of this play includes a lull or two, the second is tighter and even more intense. Frangione manages, every so often, to write in a moment of levity. Thomas captains a fishing boat and Sheila cares about gardening and small things like monarch butterflies. Their mother was an alcoholic and their father was not around at all. Earlier days have dampened but not fully eradicated possible dreams. Thus, Thomas is determined to prevent Sheila from doing herself physical harm.

Frangione is artistic director at Great Barrington Public Theater and his versatility incudes scripting, performing and directing. Judy Braha is now associate artistic director of the Great Barrington Public Theater and she has been involved for a long while in most aspects of live theatre production. Corrina May and Allyn Burrows evidenced knowing rapport and chemistry when, 24 years ago, they starred in Jane Martin's Jack and Jill. It was staged on the grounds of The Mount, Shakespeare & Company's initial locale, in the very intimate Stables Theatre. Suffice to say that all four of these individuals contribute, for the collective good, to actualizing the revelatory, affecting Flight of the Monarch. It is kind of enticing to imagine all of them together blending artistic visions in collaboration for the current rendering.

May has performed in more than 30 productions at Shakespeare & Company and many with Berkshire Theatre Group as well. She is particularly adept at finding, sculpting and holding onto her characters. Burrows is the current Shakespeare & Company artistic director who also continues to act. It was just a couple of summers ago that he and Jonathan Epstein so persuasively appeared opposite one another in A Walk in the Woods. The actors neither muff nor miss a moment while catching some that might seem trivial. Frangione's play is not lengthy but it is both penetrating and compassionate.

Costume designer Christina Beam appropriately outfits both Sheila and Thomas with clothing that is dirt-stained and has seen better days.

On a certain level, Flight of the Monarch can be experienced as quite basic. A younger brother is concerned about his older sister, whose demons might get the best of her. He wants her to stay alive. She disses him but cannot quite dismiss him. Conflicted about whether or not she will hold fast to her own survival, she ardently strives to facilitate the existence of other living things. Who or what continues and is there hope?

Flight of the Monarch runs through August 25, 2024, at Shakespeare & Company, Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre, 70 Kemble St., Lenox MA. For tickets and information, please call 413-637-3353 or visit Shakespeare.org.