The characters: two women in their fifties. The time: now, summer. The place: a big old house in Iowa City. It’s an unlikely setting for the wildly comic and poignantly unsettling transformations at the heart of “The Roommate,” the play rounding out Millbrook’s season, up now at the Poorman Cabaret.

The farmhouse kitchen in front of us appears pleasant, comfortable, welcoming in its open airiness, but a second glance reveals the suggestion of further rooms where secrets wait just around the corner. And secrets there are.

This is Sharon’s house, where she — a woman whose marriage has failed and whose son has moved away — has gradually reconciled herself to limitation and to the impossibility of happiness. But on a whim, or to help pay the bills, she has advertised for a roommate, and Robyn has answered. From the first moments of the play, we are struck by the obvious incompatibility of these two women, and by the uncomfortable (often comic) tension between them as Robyn reveals, first, that she is a vegan who will require almond milk for her coffee and, second, that she is a lesbian who writes and performs slam poetry and who likes to grow things, including her own “medicinal herbs.”

And this is only the start.

The two begin with evasion, talking past each other as Sharon attempts to uncover Robyn’s past. But as we watch, the judgemental boundaries that Sharon has erected around herself begin to fray, and — under Robyn’s reluctant tutelage — she finds herself drawn to the dangerous exhilaration of “the bad.” She has always been told, she says, not to do things, but Robyn says “do! There’s something very about her.” She exchanges her apron for a fashionable dress, her gestures become more confident and, in short, she comes alive. It’s a transformation that’s delightful to behold.

But the play goes beyond this feel-good transformation, asking some serious and unsettling questions whose answers are not easy to come by. Each of the women has a child who has been seriously alienated and with whom communication is compromised. As the women explore territory beyond the “right words” we’ve been given to define ourselves, we’re asked to consider our legacies, what we leave behind, and how we can extend care to others, as well as to ourselves. In a final poignant monologue, Robyn tells Sharon, “It’s difficult to care for strangers, but you cared.” In exploring the permeable boundaries between human beings, this thoughtful play takes us into territory that reveals the euphoria of connection as well as the caution of compassionate responsibility.

The actresses playing the parts of Sharon and Robyn do a remarkable job. Amy Bates (who directed this season’s “Double Trouble”) is able, as Sharon, to convey compellingly the journey from repressed middle-aged hausfrau to a woman awakened, using her talents to embody both the comic and tragic sides of this transformation. The persona she projects at the end of the play is almost diametrically opposed to her first, but we arrive there convinced. And Alice Bahlke, whom we saw recently as Gretchen in “Boeing-Boeing,” is brilliant as the roommate, the woman running from herself and her past, who is wary of exerting a damaging influence but also open to the possibility of real friendship. The energy between Bates and Bahlke sparks throughout.

The play, written by Jen Silverman, provides central parts for two middle-aged women, a rarity in the theatre world where women over a certain age can be relegated to background roles or serve as comic foils. Speaking personally, it was a pleasure to find myself in a setting where these women were made visible and given complex, resounding voices.

The show is beautifully directed by Biliana Stoytcheva-Horrison, also known as Dr. B, who directed last year’s Millbrook production of “Popcorn Falls.” A native of Bulgaria, Dr. B earned an MFA in acting from the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts in Sophia, Bulgaria, and a PhD in theatre arts from the University of Oregon. One of the founding members of an experimental Bulgarian theatre company, she has toured internationally. In 2015, Dr. B joined the Theatre Department at Lycoming College, where she is Head of Acting and Directing.

Kaden James did the sound for this production, Cade M. Sikora did the set, Wesley Cone did the lighting, Charli Rose Burkhardt did properties, and Tara Deljanovan did the costumes. (I loved the urban hippy look she gave to Robyn!) The Production Stage Manager was Sarah Brownstein.

“The Roommate,” rated PG-13, will be at the Poorman Cabaret through Aug. 5. Come to Millbrook and beat the heat. The Cabaret is cool — and so is the play! Call to get tickets at: 570-748-8083.

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Karen Elias lives in Swissdale. She taught English for more than 30 years, most recently at Lock Haven University and Penn College.