Drawing upon the storyteller’s art

Life on a farm tends to be governed by nature’s cycles, but at one household in central Ontario, Canada, a special man-made ritual also provides structure: the telling of a story.

The farm in Michael Healey’s gentle drama “The Drawer Boy” is occupied by lifelong friends Angus and Morgan. A long-ago head injury robbed Angus of his ability to remember things, so Morgan has fashioned the details of their lives into a sort of bedtime story. Angus can’t retain the particulars, but he knows, at least, that there is a story and that it calms him.

A hit in Canada since its introduction in 1999, “The Drawer Boy” also received a 2001 production at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre that ended up on Time magazine’s list of the year’s 10 best plays. At South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, it thrives anew.

The action unfolds in summer 1972, which is when a group of actors headed into rural Ontario to create a show based on their observations of farm life. “The Farm Show,” as the result was called, became a landmark in Canadian theater history.

Healey weaves this real-life event into his narrative by having an earnest young actor named Miles (J. Todd Adams) show up, hoping to study the small planting and livestock operation run by Morgan (Hal Landon Jr.) and Angus (Jimmie Ray Weeks).

Under Martin Benson’s direction, the trio’s coexistence teeters between orneriness and tenderness. Beneath Morgan’s placid exterior beats the heart of a prankster who steals the befuddled Angus’ sandwiches when he isn’t looking and keeps the gullible Miles on pins and needles by casually asking “Ever gutted anything?” before inventing a new round of unsavory chores for the houseguest.

Yet Morgan watches over Angus with quiet devotion. In a sequence all the more powerful for its simplicity, Morgan gently recites their story while Angus lies on his back, looking up at the night sky. Beyond them, the sleeping countryside is painted with the deep hues of John Philip Martin’s lights, seen through the gauzy farmhouse walls of James Youmans’ set.

Later, when Angus’ memory begins to unlock, Morgan seems anxious to prevent him from remembering everything -- a mystery that energizes the proceedings.

The plentiful humor is, at times, too obvious, as when Miles uses acting exercises to try to get inside a cow’s mind, or when Morgan devises chores for him that any knucklehead can see are practical jokes.

But Healey’s observations about farm life are spot-on: the work that leaves Miles with “splinters inside of exploded blisters” and the precarious laws of supply and demand that put farmers perpetually on the brink of financial ruin.

And the play’s curious title? Before the accident, the arts-minded Angus loved to draw. So, within the fairy-tale framework of Morgan’s lovingly crafted tale, he is “the drawer boy.”

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‘The Drawer Boy’

Where: South Coast Repertory, Segerstrom main stage, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa

When: Tuesdays-Fridays,

8 p.m.; Saturdays, 2:30 and

8 p.m.; Sundays, 2:30 and

7:30 p.m.

Ends: June 29

Price: $27-$54

Contact: (714) 708-5555

Running Time: 2 hours

Jimmie Ray Weeks...Angus

Hal Landon Jr....Morgan

J. Todd Adams...Miles

Written by Michael Healey. Directed by Martin Benson. Sets James Youmans. Costumes Sylvia Rognstad. Lighting John Philip Martin. Original music/sound Karl Fredrik Lundeberg. Production stage manager Scott Harrison.