There’s nothing remotely realistic or contemporary about Tennessee Williams’ sad reminiscence of unrequited love, told through a hazy reverie by Tom Wingfield (Ben Huber). He strolls onstage, lights a cigarette, and begins to weave this tale, explaining at the outset that everything is depicted simply as he remembers it. Tom is beset by his faded Southern socialite mother Amanda (Suzanne Bouchard), and tethered to a dead-end warehouse job. He’d have left home years ago, were it not for his handicapped sister, Laura (Brenda Joyner). She limps from one end of their apartment to another like a purposeless pet no one has the nerve to put down. She spends her days pining after a high-schooler several social strata beyond her grasp, only to discover that one night, the co-worker her brother is bringing over for dinner is the dreamboat in question, Jim (Eric Riedmann). Laura’s broken heart and busted glasswork are refracted through brilliant set and lighting (by Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams and L.B. Morse, respectively; Braden Abraham directs). The play’s final vortex of gloom mocks that old saw that Amanda might once have endorsed: “‘Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.” No, Williams insists. It isn’t. (7:30 p.m. Wed.-Sun. plus select matinees; see website for exact schedule. Ends Dec. 2.) KEVIN PHINNEY [See Kevin’s full review.]

Wednesdays-Sundays. Starts: Oct. 26. Continues through Dec. 2, 2012