At first glance, “The Realistic Joneses” might seem like a theatrical experience that would be better to avoid: a talky play involving two married couples — one young, one old — mostly hanging out in their adjoining backyards, swapping non sequiturs about work, their relationships and issues of illness and mortality.

The show has a well-defined beginning, when the couples meet over a housewarming bottle of wine. From there, though, the story wanders around their parallel lives and eventually ends, two and a half hours later, on a small static set, without clear resolution.

What’s missing so far from the description of this Drama Desk Special Award-winning piece — continuing through March 20 at The Actors’ Group — is the unusual voice and style of its playwright, Will Eno.

Eno, whose work “Thom Pain (based on nothing)” earned a finalist designation in 2005 for the Pulitzer Prize in drama, writes in such a weird but alluring way that it sounds simultaneously like you might hear real people talk, without theatrical polish, only with a back-and-forth efficiency that couldn’t possibly be sustained without a tightly crafted script. This tennislike technique of batting dialogue from one to another generates a frenetic pace that makes the show seem much quicker than it is.

The bewildering situation presented to the audience at first — that two couples, both with the last name Jones, live next to each other, and are compelled toward each other, for some unknown reason — also becomes like a mystery to be solved, adding to the tension. In tragicomedy style, the characters are funny and pathetic, lively and melancholy, hopeful and hopeless, sometimes in the same sentence. These four folks continually riff off each other, responding frequently in quips, as they reveal and conceal their characters.

Will you really care what happens, though, beyond the punch lines? That’s a responsibility for the actors, to bring humanity to the humor and strangeness. Karen Valasek, as motherly Jennifer, holds the group together and provides a beacon of hope, with her redeeming optimism and rational skepticism. Jeff Juett, in his debut theatrical role as John, has a natural stage presence, a splendid sense of comic timing and charisma that extends beyond being just the funny man. The other two characters, as sketched, are more flawed and frail and handled well enough by Jim Aina, as Bob, and Amrita Mallik, as Pony.

Even though the set in this intimate theater is tiny and has to represent three distinct places, designer Rick “Pops” Crowell creates usable and efficient spaces for the actors. The sound design was spotty on opening night — sometimes too soft, sometimes slow to a cue, sometimes absent for long periods. There is a live dog on stage in one scene, and another scene with a stuffed-animal squirrel, leaving the distracting impression of unequal fidelity between the animals. The costumes are contemporary and nondescript, keeping the focus on the star of this show — the incisive script by Eno, which challenges the ways in which theatrical characters are supposed to interact. In this work, one line doesn’t necessarily lead to another. Each blurted cliche gets eviscerated by the next reflective thought, as in:

Bob: “Moving is a pain.”

John: “It is. Well said. Staying still is no picnic, either.”

Each get-to-know-you conversation starter is annihilated through critical analysis, such as:

Pony: “Nature was definitely one of the big selling points of here. Plus, the school system’s supposed to be good.”

Jennifer: “Oh, do you have kids?”

Pony: “No, it’s just, John hates stupid children.”

And, odd human thoughts and quirks are exposed and passed over quickly as the performers relentlessly move on to the next line, such as:

Pony: “I feel like I should go to med school or get my hair cut or something.”

John: “I know.”

These samples are not intended to be read as script highlights but more as commonplace examples of how this Eno text brings the audience into the conversation between the couples and lets wordplay bounce around among the four moving parts. There aren’t many more extrinsic appeals to this show than the offer of witty dialogue, but, in this case, with Eno’s work, that is enough.

Directed by Peggy Anne Siegmund, with assistance from Caroline Denyes; costume design by Christine Valles; set design by Rick “Pops” Crowell; light design by Thomas Tochiki; sound design by Richard Valasek, Karen Valasek and Ian Valasek; light and sound operation and props by Karen Kuioka Hironaga; photography by Brian Gibson.

“THE REALISTIC JONESES”

>> When: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, through March 20

>> Where: The Actors’ Group at The Brad Powell Theatre, 650 Iwilei Road, Suite 101, Honolulu

>> Cost: $15-$25

>> Information: taghawaii.net or 722-6941

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With: Jim Aina (Bob Jones), Karen Valasek (Jennifer Jones), Jeff Juett (John Jones), Amrita Mallik (Pony Jones) and Sachi (Sachi Jones).