Family relationships come under the microscope when Susquehanna Stage presents "Other Desert Cities." The play will be performed at the theater, 133 W. Market St., Marietta, at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Dec. 12, 13 and 14, as well as at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 15.

The play follows the Wyeth family as daughter Brooke returns home after a long absence to visit her wealthy, conservative parents. She announces to the family that she plans to publish a memoir unveiling a well-guarded family secret that her parents hope will stay buried. Set in Palm Springs, Calif., the play takes its title from a road sign.

"This is a play about love and some of the bad things that can happen from loving," said John Kleimo, who is directing the show. "This is a family that loves each other very dearly, but they've made some bad calls."

Written in 2011 by Jon Robin Baitz and set at Christmastime in 2004, the show is still relevant today, said Layne Zeiner, who plays the father, Lyman Wyeth.

"The primary divide in the family is between the conservative parents and the liberal children," he said, noting that his character and his wife, played by his real-life wife, Deb Good-Zeiner, are modeled after Ronald and Nancy Reagan. "Families can be messy, and a lot of that surfaces in this play. The wonderful thing about it is ultimately how it resolves, which I can't tell you. No spoilers."

The cast features five actors. Good-Zeiner portrays the wife, Polly Wyeth. Libby Casey Stauffer plays the daughter, Brooke Wyeth, and Luke Miller portrays the son, Trip Wyeth. Polly's sister, Silda Grauman, is also visiting for the holidays. She's played by Susan Kresge.

"She's a recovering alcoholic with quite a few non-recovery moments, and her latest has brought her to live with her sister," Kresge said. "Her sister has had a great life, and Silda has not. They used to be writers together in Hollywood. Her sister made out great because she married a movie star, but things didn't turn out so great for my character. I'm relying on them to take care of me, because I have no money, but at the same time, I hate that I have to rely on them."

Brooke has returned after a six-year absence, where she was living an isolated life in a cottage on Long Island. "I've had a very challenging and traumatic six years grappling with my own demons," said Casey Stauffer of her character. "I come back with this book I've written that nobody knows what it's about."

She noted that while her character is the catalyst forcing the family members to confront their painful past, Miller's character is the one objective voice in the play.

"He's the one character that kind of sits outside the turmoil," she explained. "He's still embedded in it, but he has an outside perspective."

Kleimo said he has enjoyed directing the show because it offers an in-depth look at relationships.

"Part of what really drives this play are the different layers of friction between each of the characters," he stated. "It's nicely written, because you get a lot of what I called 'twosies' when we were rehearsing - a lot of scenes with just two characters on stage and then a third comes in. You get to see what those relationships are and where they're coming from. It gives a lot of texture to the show."

And although the show is about one particular family, it features themes relevant to everyone, Good-Zeiner said.

"I think people will see their own families in parts of this," she remarked. "There are so many things that we all as families struggle with at one time or another, and I think audiences will be able to relate to that. More than being about the left and the right, this is a play about family, and I think that's what audiences will gravitate toward. It's about a loving, conflicted family."

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit http://www.susquehannastage.com.