Mae returns to her childhood home to care for her terminally ill father while navigating the collapse of her personal life and her own surreal internal world.

Given the prominence of first-time stage actress Alia Shawkat on the marketing materials, I had assumed that this would be a puffy crossover star vehicle, but I came away really impressed. A naturalistic comedy-drama one-act, You Got Older centers on the relationship between Mae and her father (Peter Friedman, in good form). Not only is Alia individually excellent—there are a couple of scenes here that she completely owns with a sardonic flip of her eyes—but the writing and the ensemble deliver, as well. It’s sweet, it’s funny, it feels true to life, and it puts up just enough resistance to interpretation that you can project whatever you’re thinking and feeling onto it.

What I got out of it was, hmm—the banality of intimacy. To be intimate with someone is to drop the pretense that we’re not just human beings with human needs. It’s dumping your frustrations on the stranger at the bar, gathering to support each other in times of stress, dancing together, getting caught masturbating, or sitting out under an open sky not talking about anything in particular. And, relatedly, that loving someone is often expressed by indulging them: trying the things they grow in their garden, listening to their slightly off-base career advice, letting them rib you with embarrassing jokes, or showing up when they need you.

I think this kind of lightly-plotted naturalism is tough to write and have it feel like a worthwhile, interesting watch, which is a testament to playwright Clare Barron’s work and compelling performances by the leads. Alia and Peter have an uncommon and lovely father-daughter tenderness. Highly recommend this one!