Harbor Stage Company sheds light on the darkness at the BCA Black Box

In the depths of darkness — actual or perceived — life’s sharp edges come into focus as decisions, victories and failures get re-examined. Gene, a miner trapped underground in Harbor Stage Company’s production of “Northside Hollow” (through Jan. 20), has nothing but time to mull over his life alone in the abyss. While he waits for rescue, the audience, immersed in the dark, listens as Gene mumbles and sighs, vacillating between panic and calm in the BCA’s Plaza Black Box Theatre.

At some point, lights shine from the back row where seated viewers don hard hats fitted with working bulbs, allowing the audience to finally see Gene, who is lying on the mulchy ground in front of splintered wooden slats. The lights from the back row (fittingly) rove as showgoers move their heads along with the action throughout the production.

The artist-run Wellfleet-based theater created this cavernous space with what appears to be a soot-colored tarp mimicking dirt and wood holding up the area. A yellow cord wrapped around the ceiling’s pipes light the way.

Robert Kropf, the company’s artistic director, stars as Gene, the trapped, cigarette-smoking, divorced Gemini, and Alex Pollock stars as the young rescuer Marshall, eager to save the day. When Marshall arrives, they talk of past love, fast cars, and cheeseburgers, for which Gene would do almost anything. He also tries to get Gene, who has an injured right foot, to focus his mind and not veer too far into the negative. But it’s tough to be optimistic about getting trapped underground.

Harbor Stage co-founders Jonathan Fielding and Brenda Withers (“Ding Dongs”) co-wrote the narrative (and thoughtfully co-directed the show), which the theater premiered in 2015. The show had later productions at Amphibian Theater in Fort Worth, Texas, and Urbanite Theater in Sarasota, Florida in 2017.

It’s unclear at first what caused the collapse of the mine, but as Gene shares what he remembers with Marshall, clad in safety gear — think harnesses worn for zip-lining — hooks, boots and a hard hat, he grapples with what might have happened. One thing he knows for sure is that he went down in the mine with Vincent, but now he’s in this space alone. He’s tired but won’t rest because he fears he won’t wake up.

Memories comfort Gene somewhat, and he and Marshall engage in a friendly (sometimes funny) bickering. Later, they slip into a more existential place when discussing faith. Gene isn’t so sure about leaning on God even though he quickly recites a prayer to Saint Barbara, the patron saint of miners early on with Marshall. Still, Marshall asks him to consider that there just might be a greater force out there rooting for him and that believing costs Gene nothing. Kropf and Pollock, who has a powerful, anger-fueled monologue, are accomplished actors with a long list of theater credits to their name and have a nice chemistry.

The story, or rather the emotions it seeks to stir up, bring to mind WalkUpArts’ “Baby Jessica’s Well-Made Play,” which delves into the story of baby Jessica who was trapped in a well for quite some time before rescue in the late 1980s. Both “Baby Jessica’s Well-Made Play” and Harbor Stage’s “Northside Hollow” aspire to thrust audiences into the proverbial darkness to contend with what might be uncovered.

The 90-minute “Northside Hollow” — the ending can be figured out pretty quickly partway through if one pays attention — swirls memories, loneliness, shame, blame and love and balances it with laughter in an attempt to quell the terrifying reality of our mortality.

Harbor Stage Company’s “Northside Hollow” runs through Jan. 20 at the Boston Center for the Arts’ Plaza Black Box Theatre.