Ian Riley, Holly Chou, and Tore Ingersoll - Thorp

A new play is always a fun ride. Use Both Hands, by John Rosenberg, is a wild ride, indeed. This play, loosely based on real-life events, covers the entire range of human emotions as the characters interact. The setting is Circus Circus in Reno, where a married couple (having a final fling before separating) and two college buddies (celebrating one’s long-awaited graduation) find their lives beginning to intertwine.

This is a gritty, not pretty story, but one that won’t let you out of its clutches once you’ve been hooked. As played by Holly Chou, Marie (the main character) is a suicidal, alcoholic young wife who doesn’t know how to deal with the impending end of her marriage. Her emotional ups and downs are simply amazing; where her energy comes from is unknowable as she flip-flops between despair, joyfulness, hysteria, and rage — sometimes instantaneously..

As her husband, Ian Riley is a believable cad; his anger and frustration at the situation he finds himself in is projected strongly. You are not sure how what course of action he’ll take until his last appearance in the story. Tore Ingersoll-Thorpe, as the new graduate, masterfully milks the feelings of frenzied hope and fright that go along with leaving the world of college for the real world, and his character has consequences of his actions to deal with as the four lives intersect. Damian Lanahan-Kalish has the “college buddy” role and provides excellent comic relief at key points while also serving as the voice of reason for his friend. His portrayal is finely nuanced, and has the ring of truth to it.

But that is the key to this play: it has the ring of truth. Although this play features characters that are young, the situations are not age-specific; I can see this play being performed by older actors just as compellingly. You can see these situations really might take place in the pressure-cooker environment of a casino, where emotions and energy are always at a peak. One scene, in which the husband complains of his wife’s impending dinner date with a “better version of me,” is riveting, since he’s talking with the very person his wife is supposed to be going to dinner with! I found myself waiting with bated breath to see if the situation would explode. And that’s just one moment in the show; almost every scene keeps pulling you further and further into the lives of these four people.

Rosenberg wrote the play over the course of two years, and it is evident that he is very familiar with his characters’ stories. This play is well-crafted; complex yet understandable. I think there are more good works to come from him in the future.

Use Both Hands plays at the Phoenix Theater, 414 Mason Street, San Francisco, through Nov. 17. Tickets ($15; pay-what-you-can Nov. 7) are available through the website at www.sleepwalkerstheatre.com or by calling (415) 567-5618.