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When misfortune and despair uproot a woman’s dreams, she plants new seeds of hope where family, home and love have been harvested before in Athol Fugard’s Coming Home, receiving its world premier at Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, CT.

In this new work, the South African playwright revisits characters from Valley Song, a play set during Apartheid. In "Song," teenage Veronica Jonkers dreams of leaving her grandfather, Oupa, and his pumpkin farm to seek fame as a singer in Cape Town.

Now, it’s ten years later. Oupa has died and a homeless Veronica (Roslyn Duff), hiding the fact that she has AIDS, returns to her roots to provide a future for her son Mannetjie (played at different ages by Mel Eichler and Namumba Santos). It's a future that includes convincing her childhood friend and grandfather’s farming partner, Alfred Witbooi (Colman Domingo), to marry her so that he can care for Mannetjie when she’s gone.

Alfred, though naïve and not as intrinsically smart (Veronica used to help him cheat to get through school), is nevertheless kind and welcoming. He helps Veronica adjust while trying to befriend Mannetjie, who, intellectually superior, dreams of becoming a writer and feels Alfred has nothing to teach him. Veronica’s insistence that her son and husband find a way to get along, combined with their love for the dying woman, finally make it possible for them to reach beyond their own pain and help each other.

Very little of the plot’s action takes place on stage, as Fugard uses a “storytelling” technique where the characters relive past experiences or share memories. There's also a flashback with Oupa (Lou Ferguson) and Veronica and later, he chats with Mannetjie. In most instances, this sort of dramaturgy would not be enough to create dramatic tension, potentially killing our interest, but Fugard creates such engaging and vivid characters that the exposition nurtures them. Watering the plot with some good humor throughout also keeps its depressing nature and subject matter from choking it like weeds.

Domingo is superb as the sweet, caring, unsure Alfred. He finds the perfect balance between humor and pathos and his body language, expressing a fear of AIDS while wanting to reach out to his friend, is powerful. Ruff imbues Veronica with strength and courage in adversity as well as with a joie de vivre that is more infectious than the disease people are afraid they can catch from her. Ruff’s portrayal of Veronica in the throws of her illness is disturbingly realistic. Eichler and Ferguson give strong performances and Santos, as the littlest Mannetjie, is particularly adorable.

Set designer Eugene Lee, who traveled with director Gordon Edelstein to South Africa in preparation for this production, recreates the harshness and beauty of the setting with a thatch-roof squat house and windmill set off and given dimension by backdrops of blown up photographs from his trip. He and lighting designer Stephen Strawbridge change the dwelling’s paint color in a nifty before-your-eyes effect to help depict the passage of time. Sound designer Corrine Livingston incorporates South African music between scenes as well as some natural sounds.

---- Lauren Yarger

Coming Home plays at Long Wharf Theatre Mainstage (222 Sargent Drive, New Haven, CT) through Feb. 8. Performances are Tuesdays at 7 pm, Wednesdays at 2 and 7 pm, Thursdays and Fridays at 8 pm, Saturdays at 3 and 8 pm, and Sundays at 2 and 7pm. Tickets are $32-$62 with special discounts available and are available by calling 203-787-4282 or online at www.longwharf.org.