16th Street Theater has made much of the subject of neighbors in recent years. Steven Simoncic’s “Broken Fences” last fall examined gentrification’s impact on a West Side neighborhood. In Shayne Kennedy’s “Agreed Upon Fictions,” now seeing its world premiere at the Berwyn theater, the conflicts aren’t racial or economic but moral and psychological.
Katie (Julie Ganey) is a onetime teacher raising her hockey-loving 13-year-old son, Daniel (Theo Tougne), with her regular-guy husband, Brian (Ed Dzialo). Aside from the death of her mother a year earlier — something her cop brother, Mal (Malcolm Callan), seems reluctant to talk about — Katie’s life appears solidly prosaic. She even takes time to talk to her sweet but confused old neighbor, Harold (Nick Polus), who brings her flowers and asks her repeatedly whether she ever had his deceased mother as a teacher.
When Harold is busted for possessing child porn (amid a lot of other hoarder’s clutter), that nice suburban sheen takes on darker hues. But neither Kennedy’s script nor director Megan Shuchman’s staging, as of yet, feel fully engaged with the fascinating and complex questions raised by the story (One example: If Harold never actually touched a child, is he as culpable as the people who created the horrific images?) Harold eventually returns home under circumstances that deserve further explication than they get here, and when Katie refuses to join the rest of the neighbors in fully ostracizing him, it causes a rift with her family.
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But though I would argue that there are some narrative holes and moments that need heightening — Daniel’s revelation that he is being bullied and teased for living next door to Harold is one that could definitely be amped up — Ganey mostly anchors this minor-key morality play with her graceful and unfussy performance. And the final moments between Ganey and Polus are nearly shattering in their sadness.
Through Nov. 2, 16th Street Theater, 6420 16th St., Berwyn; $18 at 708-795-6704 or 16thstreettheater.org