Justis Bolding and Tim DeKay Photo by Curtis Brown

Set designer Tijana Bjelajac has created a space that is enveloped within shades and hues of green. Katie (Justis Bolding) gives a cup of coffee each morning to Paul (Tim DeKay), who is sitting on one of a few wearied looking stools. Everyone and everything is scruffy yet familiar. Kennedy has situated her play far upstate in New York (perhaps think of a town somewhere off The Northway between Albany and Montreal) just a few years ago.

Katie left New York City not long before and has settled in this remote village. Paul is an amiable soul who sleeps very little. The two of them are quite friendly as they exchange dialogue and there's some "tough talk" but also secrets. Paul fought through alcoholism but does not attend AA meetings while Katie has saved 27 vocal messages on her phone. She is seemingly stable but he is a desperate man even as he is loquacious and warm. He feels what he calls a kinship to this woman he sees first thing every single morning. Every so often, this feels like a psychological encounter at the counter.

It's not shocking that the voice messages on Katie's phone were left by a man. It would spoil your viewing to say anything more. Suffice to say that Paul is a thoughtful person who questions life itself. For the most part, Kennedy writes for two characters even as Erika Rolfsrud appears for a short time as Peg/Dr. Bradley.

Kennedy's back-and-forth dialogue is most sustaining during the early going, before her skillful plotting reveals complexity. She has created characters who are lonely and whose daily face-to-face connection brings purpose to their existences. Instead of isolation, they have each another. Paul could always choose not to visit the diner, but it's evident that he will return. He recommends, during the opening portion of the show, that he and Katie could become "real friends."

Director Rob Ruggiero maximizes the immediate potential of Kennedy's script by specifically positioning his actors so they appear to be addressing one another while speaking oftentimes to the audience as well. The Counter is an intimate play, focusing on personal struggle. Katie and Paul, from the get-go, like one another. Bolding builds her character from the opening when she is somewhat listless to moments when she is so touching and revelatory. It's almost a musical performance that slowly builds to a crescendo, but that takes time. DeKay, on the other hand, is always physically expressive, a man who wears his emotions on his bearded face.

Costume designer Risa Ando has outfitted Dekay's Paul in flannel, which is perfect. Katie appropriately wears a brown shirt and jeans. Matthew Richards' lighting is dim because, after all, it's early morning in a diner.

The sequencing of the play usually finds Paul sipping coffee at the counter, discussing life and times with Katie, and then exiting. Each time he walks off, he goes through the door from which he will then return. While it is surely Meghan Kennedy's intent to have the man literally depart and, after a pause, enter anew, that becomes repetitive. Perhaps an occasional blackout or darkening of the lights might work. Full departure has an impact, but might be modified just a bit.

Justis Bolding, appearing at TheaterWorks for the first time, gives a disciplined, controlled performance as she slowly builds her character from a prosaic beginning into a woman who is far more complex than the initial portrayal. Tim DeKay, who was excellent in Fever Dreams at this theater, is charismatic with his first and subsequent words. He's a man who hurts, and it would take a great deal for someone watching not to hope for more fruitful days ahead for Paul.

The Counter runs through March 22, 2026, at TheaterWorks Hartford, 233 Pearl St., Hartford CT. For tickets and information, please call 860-527-7838 or visit twhartford.org.