British Columbia, Canada, 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Ten year old Iris' goldfish dies precipitating—in Iris' mind—her parents' marital rift, friction with a border in the family home and the possibility of global calamity. The girl befriends a total stranger, an odd fellow, a misfit not fully mentally competent and quite possibly an escaped prisoner, whom Iris believes is her goldfish become human. Against all realistic logic, the family lets the stranger stay. This stylistic twisting of reason and probability places Girl in the Goldfish Bowl into the dramatic realm of magic realism, as does the precocity of Iris herself, especially her sexual awareness, and the cluelessness of her parents. It's framed as a memory play recalled by an adult Iris. 'These were the last days of my childhood,' she says, 'when you stop being happy and you remember when you used to be.'

Morris Panych's play certainly is literate and clever and sometimes whimsical, by turns funny and sad. But there's very little that places it in 1962 besides a few casual references and props, and the fact that the border, Miss Rose, still seduces World War II vets. There is, in short, little sense of specific time or why it's important. The links to the Cuban Crisis are tenuous and superficial at best. Centered on a girl and the socially maladroit and naive fish man, Mr. Lawrence, Girl in the Goldfish Bowl comes across as a weird blend of Whistle Down the Wind, Being There and Ed Grimley. It's entertaining, but you don't fully invest with the characters or the great stretches the play's situations demand. It's smart, but too arch for its own good.

New Leaf Theatre consistently has presented intelligent fare in small but physically dynamic stagings. The company also has searched for worthwhile plays that are not on the radar of most American theaters. Girl in the Goldfish Bowl fits the template but doesn't succeed as well, perhaps because the characters are too wildly improbable for realism, or perhaps because director Gregory Peters doesn't go far enough with the most whimsical aspects of the work ( the magic parts of magic realism ) . As this is a new work for me, it's difficult to assess precisely why it doesn't completely click.

The production looks good in Michelle Lilly O'Brien's detailed household set, and the performances are assured. Kaitlin Byrd brings wistful energy to Iris and John Wehrman ( Mr. Lawrence ) convincingly plays his second weirdo in a row ( having just played an adolescent misfit at Circle Theatre ) . Among supporting roles, Erin Shelton is a looker ( costumed by Rachel Sypniewski ) as caustic seductress Miss Rose. Their efforts make the play charming if not completely disarming.