Lana Young Photo by Mike Marques

First, however, let it be known that set designer Luke Cantarella's beckoning cabin in the Pacific Northwest (it looks as if it might be New England as well) is enticing. With a closed-in porch bedroom, soft and cushy living area, and functional kitchen, the space is nothing short of enticing. There's also an outdoor fire-making area at the foot of the stage. For the most part, characters enter and exit through a rear door which leads to a wooded scene beyond.

For three decades or so, Adele (Lana Young) has been involved with Zachary (Doug Savant). She cannot have enough sex with this man. Further, this is a second reality for her, one through which she feels power. The production is, for quite some time, a two hander while there's allusion to Miller, who is Adele's husband and, we learn, was Zach's friend and bandmate in college. Zach, the final performer to come on stage, and Adele had a son named Conor whom they lost.

Playwright Lieber was co-creator of TV's "Lost" and his Fever Dreams script includes romance, lust, reality, and the struggle for meaning within an accelerating intensity for a couple of hours. The individuals on stage are driven and, frankly, there's nothing soft about these seekers. Each of the three has a turn as the pivotal human at the point of their triangle.

During the opening moments, Zachary seems uncertain but it's not clear whether Doug Savant is playing it the way excellent director Rob Ruggiero wishes or if his take is an actor interpretation. That character portrayal, however, gives way to a more steadfast, confident Zach before very long. Savant has had television roles for four decades including appearances on "Desperate Housewives" and "24." When Fever Dreams opens, Zach is readying the cabin, which in this case means making sure he has plenty of wine on hand.

Adele is a woman both men covet. Adele is dynamic and outspoken about pretty much everything. She likes having her priorities in order and has devised her own systems for facilitation. Lana Young has credits on "Law & Order," "The Blacklist," and "Dynasty."

Tim Dekay was in the TV series "White Collar" and in "Oppenheimer," the feature film. Dekay's Miller, not seen during the play's first segment, brings very different attachments to his wife and his close friend. Miller and Zach knew one another thirty plus years before this particular day and the past does matter. Miller taunts his friend by referring to him as Zacharia.

Fever Dreams raises more than one dramatic question but, even before that begins, observers might be hooked in, to be candid, through Cantarella's set. Discoveries follow as if something else will be divulged with the peeling off of each layer of the full story. Lieber builds credible conflict between and amongst the characters as each hopes to attain a personal fulfillment. This is a straight-ahead pulsating piece of potent theater. It includes a shocking moment which occurs just before intermission and that sequence continues with the play's resumption and second act. Ruggiero and the three first-rate actors are in control of pressurized situations throughout. Those watching are witnesses but feel the physical proximity to and with the characters. Lieber's persuasive dialogue and the actors' impressive character realization sustain authenticity; the extra-marital complexities seem real.

Postscript: the title does make sense, but one should fully appreciate the cogent presentation without absolute understanding of that name.

Fever Dreams (of Animals on the Verge of Extinction) runs through November 4, 2024, at TheaterWorks Hartford, 233 Pearl St., Hartford CT. For tickets and information, please call 860-527-7838 or visit twhartford.org.