“Yesterday seems so much simpler … but was it?” asks director Chip Walton in his program notes for the dark new comedy “Maple and Vine,” by Jordan Harrison, playing at Curious Theatre through Feb. 23.

“Nostalgia is fascinating and makes up the core of this beguiling new play … What if you had the chance to go back in time, replacing the frustrations of the digital age for the simplicity and comfort of an earlier time; do you think that would really make you happier? Would the conformity of an earlier era be suffocating or would the limitations actually be liberating?”

As lights go up in “Maple and Vine,” the audience joins a Manhattan-based very 21st-century couple, Katha (Karen Slack) and Ryu (Dale Li) in their bedroom. Someone outside is heard shouting and discussion ensues about living elsewhere … (They have recently lost a baby and reflect the tragedy differently.)

What if they moved to a planned community where it's permanently 1955? It's governed by The Society of Dynamic Obsolescence, and by social mores of the mid-'50s.

At first appearance, Dean (Josh Robinson) and Ellen (C. Kelly Leo), who are in New York recruiting for the 1955-era community, would seem almost picture-perfect — but are they?

Katha and Ryu make the move, transitioning her from her Manhattan office to her '50s home and kitchen, '50s dresses (costume details by Kevin Brainard are excellent), afternoon meetings with Ellen of a women's committee that oversees social concerns — and a pregnancy.

Dale, a plastic surgeon in New York, takes an entry-level factory job, supervised by a somewhat threatening Roger (Stuart Sanks). Of Japanese-American heritage, Ryu meets racial prejudice at work and socially.

Dean and Ellen have their own parallel story which threads through this well-crafted play.

Tensions affect all the characters — none of them can fit into preconceived molds — and yet this expert cast avoids caricature.

The play also avoids resolution of the various dilemmas it creates, so the audience may leave feeling somewhat unsettled, inventing more story segments about these characters on the way home.

For one who started a marriage in the '50s, “Maple and Vine” touched on some long-hidden tender spots, but it offers an engaging, thought-provoking evening of theater — perhaps a bit cerebral — the kind of work Curious does well.

If you go

“Maple and Vine” plays through Feb. 23 at Curious Theatre, 1080 Acoma St., in Denver's Golden Triangle/Museum District. Performances are at 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays. Tickets: $18 to $44. 303-623-0524, curioustheatre.org.