Love in an Elevator, presented by Six Corners Entertainment at the Plaza Black Box Theatre, Boston Center for the Arts, through August 13. bostontheatrescene.com or
617-933-8600.

Imagine a rabbi becomes the chaplain of a hospital elevator. This is a pivotal element in an entertaining and thoughtful comedy not surprisingly entitled "Love In An Elevator." Hyman Popper, the rabbi of Temple Beth El in an unnamed Midwestern American city, effectively presides in the title present day setting of Richard Rivosa's world premiere play.

Declaring that it "looks like we have a full house," Popper proceeds to invite the very diverse passengers to reflect on their experiences with love and relationships while they wait for the stuck hospital service elevator to be repaired. While the elevator scenario may sound familiar, the revelations that follow at the Boston Center for the Arts' Plaza Black Box Theatre from a strong cast prove lively and affecting under the sharp direction of Tim Lawton.

During the 90-minute no-intermission play, the ten passengers engage in a combination of discussion and debate about their respective experiences and feelings about love. In a "Playwright's Dramaturgical Note" in the BCA playbill, Rivosa speaks of being inspired by Plato's "Symposium," in which six Athenian men focus on physical love and its aesthetic virtues while Socrates looks to an eternal world for true love.

In "Love In an Elevator," the playwright challenges a cross-section of human beings with very different religions, beliefs and occupations to engage in an open-minded dialogue even as they struggle to understand each other and themselves.

As the colorful Rabbi—who speaks both Hebrew and Yiddish and notes that a 'Shabbos Goy' may be needed as the Sabbath approaches—draws out the passengers' individual stories, a lesbian hospital nurse becomes a kind of would-be social worker as she alternately comforts conflicted passengers and supports more confident ones.

Along the way, the widowed Rabbi (whose wife died of Leukemia in her twenties) shares a lively intellectual exchange with a confirmed bachelor professor, and a loner anarchist moves from defensive attitude to a painful and moving confession about his suffering and that of his mother at the hands of his abusive father. A notably reassuring narrative finds a devoted African-American couple—a construction worker and his pregnant fiancée—looking to marry before the actual birth. If the rabbi unexpectedly officiates as the nurse prepares to deliver the child, Ravosa does keep the situation from becoming a sitcom sequence.

While an intermission could have preceded the strongest revelations of the anarchist and the ending seems to arrive a bit abruptly, the play proves consistently absorbing and its talented ensemble fully convincing.

David Lee Vincent captures the rabbi's remarkable blend of pride in his heritage, respect for the beliefs and views of others, singular sense of humor and sincere caring. Megan Paluzzi has all of the nurse's insight about her own relationship and embrace of the concerns of her fellow passengers. Damian Parker and Elisabeth Castellon Gonclaves have good chemistry as the marriage-approaching couple. Johnny Mooers is a standout as the lost soul anarchist moving from isolation to understanding. John Brownlie catches the angst of a gay chef dealing with an alcoholic husband. Norman B. Bendroth has persuasive authority as a philologist referring to the likes of Wittgenstein but could do with stronger projection. Vidisha Agarwalla has the right astuteness of an Indian lawyer, and Floris Liu possesses good feeling as the flute-playing musician. Carol Drewes makes the most of her initially subdued patient's eventual reflections. Kudos goes to M. Berry's nuanced lighting and Grace Kroeger's sound design for the temperamental elevator.

Characterizing the elevator odyssey, the rabbi concludes that "God has been busy this evening." Audience members—no matter what their affiliation—should find this well-crafted business both enjoyable and enlightening.

All performances are preceded by short musical stints by diverse area musicians and vocalists (listed in the playbill).This critic enjoyed the Pat Gaulin Duo—Patrick Gaulin on drums and Jordan Gravel on keyboard.