Red Jasper is an absorbing new play by Michael Madden, a graduate of McBride High School who now lives in San Diego. The Gaslight Theater and Madden are co-producing the play’s St. Louis premiere in a gripping production directed by Suki Peters.

The main characters, Izzy and Tom, meet in a hospital infusion center. Izzy is receiving chemotherapy for a recurrence of breast cancer. The reason for Tom’s treatments is not specified at first, nor is the reason for his estrangement from his daughter, Samantha, who expresses her anger in a brief appearance. The reasons turn out to be the same.

Izzy is disappointed in her son, Scott, a lawyer who is too preoccupied with becoming a partner at his firm to have time for his mother.

In spite of their ailments, Izzy and Tom hit it off. Their relationship is hindered, however, by what Izzy hears about Tom and his wife, who died after a long battle with Alzheimer’s.

Madden’s script is an enjoyable and enlightening mixture of heartwarming romance, cheeky humor, and unflinching exploration of the pain caused by long-term illnesses.

The cast gives excellent performances under Peters’ knowing, sympathetic direction. Nancy Nigh embodies the full range of Izzy’s emotions as she pursues a romance while facing an uncertain, challenging future. Tom’s charm, decency, and compassion are completely convincing in Ben Ritchie’s portrayal.

Carmen Garcia’s Abby is the person you would want to be attending to you if you needed to be at an infusion center. Rhiannon Creighton is equally persuasive when she is raging at her father and when she is reconciling with him.

Caleb D. Long puts the right amount of humor in his portrayals of Scott and a salesman. Long also designed the set, which finds room for the infusion center and two kitchens on the Gaslight’ Theater’s small stage. The lighting is by John Wilper; the makeup by Samantha Hayes.

Red Jasper’s run concludes on October 13. Curtain times are 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday.

—Gerry Kowarsky