Craig Wright's "Grace" began a three-week run at the Pure Theatre, and there are a number of reasons that you should see it.

The atmosphere is intimate, thanks to a small theater and Rodney Lee Roger's clever set, which conflates the apartment of Steve and Sarah with that of Sam. This allows Director David Mandel to create intricate movements for his quartet of talented performers.

R.W. Smith's creation - Steve - is a marvel of nuance, filled with nervous energy as he happily praises the Lord and buys another plot of land. It's wonderful watching his eyes as he shifts from real estate hustler to blank-minded evangelical. Steve is fixed in his faith, and that's going to be a problem. Sharon Graci's interpretation of Sarah emphasizes all the hints of doubts that will bring about the end of the play with a literal bang.

Unfortunately for our happy, simple-minded couple, they will encounter Karl, the bug man, who has had such a horrific experience as a child that he has renounced his belief in God and religion. Ross Margoulas manages to find every bit of whimsey in a part that is structurally comic relief.

As Sam, the "man with no face," Johnny Ali Heyward shatters our couple. Heyward acts with gentle tones and gestures, making an effective contrast to the energetic Steve.

By now you must realize that the one thing that might keep you away from "Grace" is that it deals with fundamental questions of religion. But Steve and Sarah are such complex individuals that they can hardly represent any one particular group.

The cast of "Grace" offers a clinic in good acting, so see it at the Cigar Factory in the next three weeks.

Religion isn't just habit-forming, it can be downright addictive. One hit of an appropriate Bible passage can snare susceptible types for life. But those scriptures should come with a wealth warning. The Bible classes may be free, but it won't be long before the collection plate gets waved under your nose, and a business deal based on faith alone is a hell of a risky one.

While a pious high is not to be sniffed at, the Monday morning comedown isn't always pretty — and as the amazing Grace reveals, hymnal junkies who misplace their faith don't take well to cold turkey.

Steve is a true believer, a "prayer warrior," who lives in a heavenly apartment, all white drapes and cream leather furniture. He's just scored a major hotel renovation deal with an unseen tycoon who has promised to wire him $18 million Swiss francs. Feeling a great rush when he realizes that his prayers have been answered, he shares his uncurbed enthusiasm with his wife, Sarah.

While Steve is out spinning a flimsy web of financial deals, Sarah's left at home to befriend her mourning neighbor, Sam. This NASA programmer is a "thinker, not a believer" recovering from a car accident in which he lost his wife and his looks. Life goes on even after such an emotionally scarring event, and Sam must deal with visits from the exterminator, an extended stay in tech support hell, and ever-more-frequent visits from Sarah, who takes the commandment "love thy neighbor" further than most.

As Sam, Johnny Ali Heyward gives an incredible performance. This guy can make sitting at a laptop or hanging on the phone look fascinating, and when his character is placed in uncomfortable situations the effect is enthralling.

Never one to pick easy roles, Sharon Graci has some tough moments to pull off here. Sarah launches into a strangely self-absorbed story right after her neighbor has poured his heart out to her. Although subsequent events help justify the monologue, it's still the weakest moment in the show. Still, Graci does what she can to make this transition seem less awkward.

R.W. Smith's Steve is by turns blithe and bitter, and the actor handles humor and soul-searching with equal ease. Ross Magoulas plays the wry pest controller Karl, who is reminiscent of Clarence the angel from It's A Wonderful Life, with his white uniform and the way he catalyses some events. But Grace is no Capra-esque feel-good piece.

But author Craig Wright does include some cinematic elements. He begins the play with the shocking end of the narrative, then rewinds the scene and starts from the beginning. There are cuts to black and fades to white, and the pace is tight thanks to an ingenious use of the single set. The actors occupy the same stage while living in their own apartments, helping to develop a running theme of the illusive distance between human beings.

Ex-hotel developer Wright's best trick is to lead his characters down avenues of redemption, getting the audience's hopes up only to dash them with a wrong turn that the protagonists choose to take. Director David Mandel picks up on enough of the play's nuances to keep the audience engaged — and cautiously optimistic — right up until the final moments of the show.

It's easy to get complacent about PURE's constantly top-notch productions, but a renewed focus on acting and strong material has meant a tangible improvement in quality for this season. Grace is the best show we've seen from this ensemble in a long while, so now's a great time to get hooked on a strong dose of uncut contemporary theatre.

What is it with PURE Theatre and this insistence of theirs that theatre is a good place to confront the big, juicy questions you're supposed to stop talking about after you get out of college or grad school? You know, religion, god, free will, predestination, the universe, the cosmos, time, and why the hell we're here. With their second production of the new season, opening at their cozy Cigar Factory space on Friday, the PUREists confront all of these thorny questions, and quite a few more, in the Southeastern premiere of Craig Wright's Pulitzer Prize-nominated play Grace. Wright has served as head writer and producer for ABC's popular series Lost, and also wrote for the HBO drama Six Feet Under. He's currently co-executive producer of ABC's new show Brothers and Sisters. So the guy's got dramatic cred leaking out of every pore. Grace — which concerns a desperate housewife, a Jesus freak from Minnesota, a German exterminator, and a NASA rocket scientist with no face — starts with the ending then goes back in time to trace the effect of a sketchy real-estate deal to buy $14 million worth of hotels to convert them into Christian inns. "Tragicomedy," says director David Mandel, "ensues." The play stars PURE cofounder Sharon Graci (Spinning Into Butter), Johnny Ali Heyward (36 Views), R.W. Smith (True West), and local veteran Ross Magoulas. "Almost everything I do can be dissolved down to basically the same thing," Wright has said. "I'm almost always trying to say, 'Hey! You're alive! You won't be for long! So what are you doing?' I don't pretend to know what you ought to do. Except that you should be aware that it's happening, that you should wake up and realize how short time is.

With a mixture of cutting truths and constant laughs, Grace examines the marriage of an intensely Christian couple, their disfigured neighbor, a shaky business deal, and the way religious ideas make sense - and sometimes nonsense - of life's events. Murder, romance, faith, and betrayal make for an explosive combination in this darkly funny and provocative new play from Craig Wright, writer for ABC's Lost and HBO's Six Feet Under. Pulitzer Prize Nominee. ENSEMBLE Sharon Graci Johnny Ali Heyward Ross Magoulas R.W. Smith Directed by David Mandel

A desperate housewife, a "Jesus freak" from Minnesota, a German exterminator and a NASA rocket scientist with no face share the stage in Craig Wright's play "Grace," opening Friday at Pure Theatre.

Wright, who served as head writer and producer for the HBO drama "Six Feet Under," is now co-executive producer of ABC's new show "Brothers and Sisters."

Director David Mandel says the theme of the play is "how we are all connected and directly or indirectly influenced by our neighbors' beliefs, choices and actions."

Done in flashback form, "Grace" opens with the story's conclusion, and then goes back in time to trace the effects of a sketchy real estate deal to buy $14 million worth of hotels and convert them into Christian inns.

"The result is tragicomedy," says Mandel. "At issue are the spiritual and philosophical questions of free will, predestination, divine intervention, salvation and the damaging nature of total faith, untempered by reality."

"Grace" premiered in 2004 by Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. It was nominated for the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding New Play and was recently staged at Northlight Theater in Chicago. This is the South Carolina premiere of "Grace."

Starring in the production are Pure Theatre co-founder Sharon Graci, Johnny Ali Heyward, Ross Magoulas and R.W. Smith.

Performances of "Grace" are at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, continuing Thursdays through Saturdays through Oct. 28, with a 2 p.m. matinee Oct. 15.