A friendship forms and fractures in Central Square Theater's 'Summer, 1976'

Cassoulet and conversation help shape a friendship between two very different women in Central Square Theater’s production of “Summer, 1976.” In David Auburn’s melancholic play, Alice and Diana get to know each other after their daughters, Holly and Gretchen, become playmates. The acting in this offering is superb, and the storytelling through alternating monologues feels like a nostalgic love note, exploring memory, dreams and friendship.

The show is set in Ohio during America’s bicentennial, with the pulse of feminism still going strong. Onstage, the inner workings of Alice (a very funny Laura Latreille) and Diana (a spot-on Lee Miska Gardner) are revealed slowly in this drama, smartly directed by Paula Plum (an excellent actor in her own right), with Latreille offering more physical comedy and outward expression, and Gardner giving Diana a more subtle touch.

From the outside looking in, both women appear happy. They have lovely homes and children, but something’s missing. Diana has a house full of art she’s created that’s not quite finished, and Alice’s professor husband is hardly ever home. He’s up for tenure and working hard to make it happen.

Loneliness almost feels like a character as Diana and Alice, who don’t like each other very much at first, eventually bond. Diana is cultured and judgy, always poking fun at what Alice reads, like “Shogun,” and thinks the other woman is a phony hippie. Alice thinks Diana is haughty. However, Diana is surprised to find out that Alice knows of and likes the work of German painter Paul Klee. Still, even with this in common, their contrasting life experiences and personalities create cracks in their relationship.

Set designer Kristin Loeffler crafted two houses: one multi-story brick home for Diana, and a smaller, yellow, cottage-style home where Alice and her family live. The blue sky with the occasional passing bird is courtesy of projection designer Justin LaHue, with sound by Aubrey Dube and lighting by Deb Sullivan — all helping to create a sense of place. The differing personalities of Alice and Diana are depicted in the clothing — a paisley printed top for free-wheeling Alice, and a button-down shirt and khakis for the snobby Diana — assembled by costumer Sydney Hovasse.

Latreille and Gardner are both wonderful actors who do great work bringing this somewhat thin memory play to life. In the show, the characters have a rift that leaves their friendship with a chasm that widens over time, with one of them continually reaching out to try and mend broken fences.

Much like life, the characters in the play imagine different futures that vary greatly from reality, wondering what would have happened if they’d chosen another pathway. Watching the production, I couldn’t help but wish for the two characters to talk to each other more instead of offering monologues. But it seems like the presentation of these characters is a tool to depict the space between them.

Overall, the narrative is perhaps a call of sorts to work out relationship challenges before they fester and leave behind haunting questions of what might have been.

“Summer, 1976” runs at Central Square Theater in Cambridge through Nov. 30.