Left-right, Melissa Penick, Sara Betnel, Matt Bauman, and Richard Noble in a scene from Weightless by Christine Evans at Perishable Theatre.

Sara Ossana

Early in Weightless, which is getting its world premiere at Perishable Theatre, we’re told that even the humble pigeon can find its way home. Then playwright Christine Evans introduces us to a family who can’t even find a way out of its home.

There’s Lillian, a plastic surgeon, and her husband, Horace. Their son Seth, who is 17, has been released after serving time for violent behavior. His nurse Marion is there to keep him sedated and provide a few other services.

And there is the maid Arrende. She is played by a man, since Arrende’s duties apparently include being a workshop for Lillian, who’s removed the maid’s female paraphernalia.

Arrende is played by Luis A. Astudillo — a foreigner in a strange land.

His accent remains, but he has lost his ability to find his way home.

They all live in a 70th-floor penthouse far above the gravity of the outside world. But they are not weightless: they’re as tied down and heavy as the shrink-wrapped lamps and walls of their apartment. And that outside gravity does try to enter their world. Regularly the floor cracks open — it’s a bit as if they’re living in San Francisco on a bad day.

Oh, they talk of going out. Horace even suggests they take a walk in the park. They could wear gas masks the way they used to.

Evans has come up with a world that is both a fantasy and not too far a stretch from what we live in.

Granted few of us sprout wings or change species, but the obsession with appearance and youth is familiar territory. Being tied down is common.

Melissa Penick is a brittle Lillian who can still be aroused. You may wonder when she actually performs surgery, and where. Do her patients come to her or is her practice now limited to those in the penthouse? After all, she’s the one who’s afraid to leave. She does talk at one point of going down to the garage and then, sometime in the future, going back down there and opening the garage door.

Lillian is not necessarily likeable but, on some level, we understand.

Horace, played by Richard Noble, seems a gentle sort, someone who won’t ruffle feathers — at least other people’s feathers. Horace is the one who makes a major change — which no one really seems to notice.

Seth, (Matt Bauman), with his anger and fear of heights is the one with the most open emotions. He lashes out at his world and spends his time doing crossword puzzles and writing songs — at least he does when he’s not sedated.

Sara Betnel is a scheming nurse, being many things to just about everyone.

These are types, more than fully rounded characters.

It’s Arrende who breaks through that barrier to emerge as a winning guide to this mixed-up Oz. Astudillo’s warm smile and knowing glance keep us anchored.

Sara Ossana’s gray shrink-wrapped set — even a mirror is covered — is a ghostly netherworld while Andrew Vance’s lighting carries over the mood — and provides a striking final image.

Evans’ script combines a strong sense of humor with the surreal and keeps at least one foot grounded in the reality we know. Weightless could still use some shaping to accent some scenes a bit more than others. As of now each gets equal weight and some points remain unemphasized.

Being Weightless, or at least striving to be, is fun and a bit scary as well.

Weightless runs through Nov. 11 at Perishable Theatre, 95 Empire St., Providence. Tickets are $20; $15 for students and members of the military. Call (401) 331-2695.