In the first scene of “halfs,” a rudderless musician in recovery asks a barkeep, “What's the saddest thing you’ve seen in this place?” It's a query that's useful in so many ways in this tender, aching new play about a grieving, stuck addict who reunites with his much younger half brother. It’s an odd-couple drama with humor about coming of age, inherited illness and reaching to make art out of sadness. And it’s about the choice between light and dark. And how we can't always control the choices.

A poignant story about family disassembling and reassembling, outsidership, addiction, redemption, and anxiety. The central relationship between Ray and Simon is so delicately and intricately rendered, but in a way that isn't marred by false sentiment or melodramatics. Indeed, all of the characters are so nuanced and there is a lot of care and vulnerability in every scene. Each scene manages to be so powerfully yet subtly loaded with conflict and inner turmoil, but we never lose the sense that the characters care deeply for one another and are just doing their best to carve out their paths.

A moving story of trying to begin again while the past haunts, healing and family. Well done.