Commencing with an exhausting round of Nerf basketball, positively popping with hormones, All Hail Hurricane Gordo (which opens the Cleveland Play House's FusionFest) demonstrates this venerable institution coming to terms with some harsh realities. First and foremost, it can no longer survive on the patronage of the shrinking fragile remains of The Greatest Generation, or depend upon the spreading derrieres of baby boomers.

MTV has finally infiltrated even quaint old Cleveland, and grunge and nihilism have become the order of the day. This is reflected in a CPH season that began with a debased Man of La Mancha and ends in yet another madhouse, with that favorite theatrical house plant - the dysfunctional family - on parade.

Stanislavski would probably have hailed All Hail because there are methods to its madnesses. To start, it's a major production written by a 24 year old. Yet, Carly Mensch is a playwright on the rise, and even if this isn't a Great American Play, she clearly demonstrates the potential to someday write one. She has a sound knowledge of theatrical construction, and is able to channel the influences of many fine earlier dramatists.

All Hail starts with two brothers locked in an ominous codependency, reeking of Sam Shepherd. Yet with Mensch nothing stays as it seems; for soon, her frame of reference turns more to the sentimental '30s rather than the alienated '60s. Instead of remaining symbols of aggression and menace, the brothers morph into modern variations of Steinbeck's George and Lennie - two helpless souls trying to protect eachother. The younger suffers a form of autism and the older is a virginal college dropout, who constantly writes undeliverable letters to the parents that deserted the boys. When a young female boarder shows up to change the dynamics, we see Mensch's greatest asset - her belief in the supremacy of the enchanted oddball.

Produced "in association" with Actors Theatre of Louisville, All Hail premiered at its prestigious Humana Festival under the expert direction of Sean Daniels. It's therefore hard to imagine a finer rendering of the script. Daniels' prismatic staging reflects an array of colors and mood swings that embellish the play's constant surprises.

In the extremely challenging roles of the desperate brothers, Patrick James Lynch and Matthew Dellapina exhibit incredible physical grace and childlike innocence. Tracee Chimo as the runaway boarder renders adolescent confusion with a luminous intensity. And, recalling that pantheon of great Hollywood character actors, William McNulty rounds out the cast as a seeming shmuck who is really a saint.

Beyond its sheer selection, and amongst this array of Actors Theatre artists, it's difficult to ferret out the CPH's contribution to this "co-production." Maybe it consisted of providing the ushers.

All Hail Hurricane Gordo: Through May 11 at Cleveland Play House, 8500 Euclid Ave., 216.795.7000.