Carrie (Kate McKnight) and Louise (Julia Reimer) are college buddies who haven't seen each other in years -- until a chance encounter at Bergdorf's department store in New York rekindles the relationship. In Lanford Wilson's affecting one-acter "The Great Nebula in Orion," we're plopped into a situation that is both distant and tremendously intimate, and it's a tribute to the playwright's texturing of his characters that it all seems very true to life.

Carrie, who has a perfect husband, kids, house and bank account, should be the happiest clam in the world. But she envies her classmate Louise, who has carved out a notable career as a fashion designer. When Louise invites Carrie back to her apartment for an afternoon visit -- which turns into an afternoon encounter with a bottle of brandy -- old tensions come to light.

There is nothing tremendously showy about this play: no earthshaking revelations, no violent climaxes, no life-changing moments. There's just a quiet, middle-aged realization that loneliness and disappointment can be as much a part of life as happiness and hilarity. The show is well-staged, with the physical choices of the women echoing their parries and thrusts. (Wilson uses a device in which each character alternately comments on the other's various asides to the audience; it's as if they can hear each other's thoughts.) For example, neither woman sits down in the two inviting chairs in Louise's living room until much later than you'd expect. It's done smoothly enough that you don't realize how odd that is until they actually do sit.

It's not a show for those looking for boisterous, fringe-festival hilarity. But McKnight and Reimer help create a snug world that makes you think. Their tender, controlled performances are quite nice.

Playing: 7 p.m. Sunday 3/2, 5:30 p.m. Saturday 3/8 at Dianna's North, 826 N. Fulton St. Cost: $6. Rating: PG-13.