The women of 'Wipeout' ride the swells of life at Gloucester Stage

There’s an air of excitement when venturing out to see the world premiere of a new theater production. Every season promises to offer myriad options from the canon, like Shakespeare, an Oedipal feature, or some reimagining of one of the many seminal high school reads, such as “Moby Dick or “The Great Gatsby.” So, with something new, a keen sense of adventure awaits.

At Gloucester Stage Company’s theater Wednesday night, colorful beach balls of various sizes hang above an oversized kiddie pool structure. Decorated with turtles and whales, the set signaled the fun, light-hearted story to come in “Wipeout” (which runs through July 28). And, at first, it was, but the play later delves into deeper subject matter.

Written by Aurora Real De Asua, the play focuses on three friends in their 70s who decide to take a surfing lesson. They are celebrating the birthday of Margaret, who goes by Gary. While floating in the water between learning board basics, the trio talks about sex, love, divorce and more.

The 90-minute play doesn’t have the sort of major pinnacle that punches up the story and begs for resolution. Rather, it feels like a long, existential conversation about life that highlights the importance of friendship, the toll of grief and the rewards of risk-taking. The story centers on the moments that make life unique and how quickly it passes by. Each of the women in the play takes turns sharing more about themselves and their friendship with one another, and they each spend time with the instructor Blaze, getting to know him and encouraging his pursuits.

The tension in the play, directed by Shana Gozansky, seeps out slowly amid pauses (some of which are too long). All of the women confront aging. After riding her first wave, Claudia realizes she’s been too passive for too long. Wynn recognizes that her life has whizzed past too quickly, and Gary, who always wanted to be a surfer, never had the guts to try. Her now-deceased mother wouldn’t have stood for it.

Gloucester Stage Company’s production of “Wipeout” is the third staging in the play’s rolling premiere. It has been read and workshopped through the National New Play Network’s  New Play Exchange and staged at Rivendell Theatre Ensemble in Chicago and B Street Theatre in Sacramento, California.

The story — as the California-raised playwright shared in an interview — comes from a combination of learning to surf with her mom (who started lessons in her 40s) and spending summers with her grandmother, who, along with her octogenarian friends, were uninhibited and wild.

The play provides a thoughtful look at the human experience: our fragility, our waning beauty, and our cognitive decline. While I didn’t walk away washed in waves of new understanding, I did empathize with some of the more emotional tugs in the story and was reminded that there’s no more critical time than the present.

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“Wipeout” runs through July 28 at Gloucester Stage Company.