A & E

Whether it's the crash of an airplane or a relationship, the effect can be devastating for the survivors.

An investigation of the wreckage can help determine the cause and prevent future disasters.

Playwright Keith Reddin uses this interesting juxtaposition of people and circumstance for his investigation into how people move on after a devastating loss.

In "Human Error," which opened Wednesday night in the Studio Theatre at City Theatre, Reddin focuses on the developing relationship between two National Transportation Safety Board investigators looking into an airplane crash and their interactions with the sole survivor as they piece together the clues in search of answers.

It's probably not a good play to see the night before you're scheduled to fly somewhere.

But, given its topic, it's far less grim than you might expect.

Reddin is adept at writing dialogue that is as real as it is witty, clever and funny, while still managing to probe into serious matters.

Director Tracy Brigden directs with swiftness, clarity and a real sympathy for the emotions of the characters. It's her second production of the play. In 2007, she directed its off-Broadway world premiere at Atlantic Theatre Company.

She's aided by set designer Luke Hegel-Cantarella and lighting designer Jeff Croiter.

They have created and illuminate a backdrop of moving panels painted with a soft-focus view of endless prairie and clear blue skies. They shift positions as we travel to multiple locations -- the wreakage-strewn field, the bedroom and cocktail lounge of a Midwestern hotel, a hospital room -- while keeping the crash scene forever within our awareness.

The show's success relies chiefly on the performances, particularly those of Tasha Lawrence and Matt Walton who play the NTSB investigators as people who are as likeable and funny as they are intelligent and dedicated.

Sympathy rests most strongly with Lawrence's Miranda who is in the final stages of recovering from a bad long-term relationship and its breakup. Walton's Erik, also one of the walking wounded, is even less willing to reveal his past.

Miranda is determined to reject Erik's advances.

That's difficult to do because Walton makes Erik's aggressive, outrageous banter appealing. She soon succumbs.

But just as you think it might be blue skies and clear sailing into a happy future for them, external events create a system malfunction in their relationship.

As the only survivor and observer of the crash, Ray Anthony Thomas has the trickier role. Having lost his wife, he wants answers, even though the ones that sustain him the most eventually come from within.

"Human Error" wraps up in just under 75 minutes with no intermission.

After speeding through a rough and debris-strewn landscape, it arrives at an upbeat but indeterminate conclusion.

Everyone achieves some form of closure.

But Reddin leaves it to the audience to decide how well some of the survivors will employ what insights they have gained.

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