4000 Miles, a finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Time Magazine’s #1 Drama or Musical of 2012, is a fresh family drama written by Amy Herzog. Leo arrives at his grandma Vera’s apartment in Manhattan after cycling all the way from Seattle. He spends a month with her, the two of them talking, laughing and helping each other until personal truths are slowly teased out. Peterhouse’s Heywood Society performs the slow-burning narrative with a subtle mix of gravitas and humour. 

Despite Leo’s standoffish and detached arrival at his grandma’s apartment, the two characters slowly warm to each other. Vera is an old-fashioned communist, Leo a New Age hippy: they begin to bond over their beliefs as they discuss their family and other relationships. Their age difference means little; Vera is growing old, Leo is growing up.

Julia Kass gives a hilarious performance as Vera. Her wry retorts and delightfully incredulous facial expressions add bite to the play. Vera has a habit of interrupting or deadpanning tense moments in a manner that does not trivialise or irritate, but rather lightens the scene and adds a sense of normalcy, rendering the situations more relatable. Chloe Slattery plays Amanda, a girl Leo brings home one night, with a comic rich-girl drawl.

Leo’s slow development is realised by Gabriel Cagan. He starts the play withdrawn, avoiding his family and not admitting to what is really happening with him. A series of revelations, clues and hints in conversations with Vera and his ex-girlfriend Bec lead up to the play’s most powerful scene, when Leo tells his grandma exactly what happened during his bike trip. The playroom was in complete silence, the audience hanging on Cagan’s every word.

4000 Miles concludes without fanfare or a happy ending; rather, it ends as it began: with a mix of subtlety and humour. The audience recognizes delicate changes in Leo and Vera, a credit to Kass and Cagan’s renderings of their respective characters. A carefully woven family drama with nuanced characters, 4000 Miles promises an intimate insight into growth and healing at different stages of life.

4000 Miles runs at Corpus Playroom until Saturday.