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Tom Stoppard's "Indian Ink" ponders who we are and how we define ourselves and others as nations and as people as it shifts between period, place and perspective.

That's a tall order for an evening of theater.

But Stoppard fans and others should find it a rewarding exercise in verbal and mental agility, as the playwright looks at clashing viewpoints and interweaving of human lives against the background of the rise of Indian nationalism and the decline of British control.

Quantum Theatre gives it a thoughtful, smart and thoroughly appealing staging in an outdoor setting that appeals to the intellect and the senses.

It's set in Allegheny Cemetery on a grassy rise against a backdrop of tombstones and monuments. The fluttering foliage of mature trees frames the playing area lighted in part by torches that flicker and flame, lending atmosphere and illumination as the evening darkness deepens. A crenellated castle tower rises behind a stone wall, enhancing the play's Indian/English ambiance.

Maybe it's just romantic imagination working overtime, but gentle whiffs of incense seemed to mingle with Elizabeth Atkinson's supportive but nearly subliminal sound design that wafted through the warm evening air.

One part of "Indian Ink" looks at Flora Crewe, a sexually adventurous young English poetess as she visits India in 1930 and has her portrait painted by an Indian artist. Those scenes alternate and often blend with events some 50 years later, as Eldon Pike, a sycophantic writer who aspires to become Flora's biographer, attempts to unravel the mysteries of a painting found among her letters. Even as Pike investigates fruitlessly in India, the artist's son, Anish Das, visits Flora's sister Eleanor in London on a quest of his own.

As in "Arcadia" and "Invention of Love," Stoppard explores the ways that individual perception and prejudice color actual events and the inability of academics or historians to truly understand what has gone before.

But "Indian Ink" also intrigues with commentary on the multiple strands of influence that form how we identify ourselves and others.

Did the British benefit India by establishing Western 19th- and 20th-century order and sanitation or destroy its civilization and culture? Can Nirad Das be an Indian painter while admiring the English Pre-Raphaelites or "Oliver Twist"? Can we ever see past our screen of assumptions to truly understand another person, much less another culture?

Director Rodger Henderson and a terrific cast mine the material not just for its rich stock of intellectual material but for its irreverent humor. The play moves easily through its multiple worlds with actors sometimes sharing the same space but different realities of time or place as well as viewpoints.

As Flora's sister Eleanor, Susan McGregor-Laine shines with her comfortable yet acerbic well-drawn portrait of British upper-middle-class assurance and righteousness. Her concluding scene with Rajesh Bose's Anish Das comes as close to closure as two cultures and generations can hope.

Robin Walsh 's Flora Crewe is perhaps a tad too bright and energetic for a woman in the terminal stages of tuberculosis. But she brings great comprehension and complexity to this poetess who attempts communion with another soul and yet "used (men) like batteries. When things went flat, she'd put in a new one …"

As Crewe's Indian painter Nirad Das, Sanjit De Silva fills in the outlines of Stoppard's character to create a round, real person who brings to life his own contradictions and those of his country.

Cody Henderson's wonderfully geeky researcher Eldon Pike, an adoring Crewe fan in bright red tennis shoes, is the perennial outsider whose intellectual reach will always exceed his grasp. Ditto John Imro's David Durance, the square-jawed British officer, a lost soul who loves India even while he's destroying it.

Sunil Malhotra creates four distinct small characters who span the play's five decades, from the formal, subservient Coormaraswami who greets Flora on arrival, and the offended but pragmatic Dilip who explains to Pike the place of the beggar in Indian society, as well as a worldly, highly attractive Rajah and a savvy Politician. Tien Doman's Nell and Andy Place's Eric Swan make only a single small appearance but hint at other, possibly no less interesting stories left untold here.

Thought-provoking, humorous and exotic, yet accessible, "Indian Ink" works as both an evening of entertainment and a springboard for continuing discourse.

The Quantum Theatre's production of "Indian Ink" continues through Aug. 25 outdoors at Allegheny Cemetery, 4734 Butler St., Lawrenceville. Performances: 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays. Tickets: $20; $15 for senior citizens. Details: (412) 394-3353.

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