New York, 1876, a city of wild ambition and ever concentrating wealth, ruled over by a smart set of cultural elites who adhere to strict codes of thought and behavior, who drape the custom of the day with the robes of morality, and who zealously guard their power and privilege against vulgar outsiders. Plus ca change, plus ca meme chose, etc. — which is probably why our brilliant lady Narrator (brilliant because she gets to deliver novelist Edith Wharton’s words and also because she delivers them with such aplomb, using them to both frame and drive the action) is wearing a modern pants suit while everyone else is swathed in period costume. Monochromatic period costume, to boot, so as not to interfere with the constantly changing wall of color that serves as backdrop/mood ring for the spare and decidedly modern stage — except of course for our Scarlet Woman, the divorce-minded Countess Ellen Olenska, who has fled Europe and arrived back home in the Land of the Free (ha ha). But despite her title, she comes from vulgar stock, which has left her unaware and unconcerned with all that custom, and therefore dangerous to the social order. Sure enough, young Newland Archer (what a name!), who has just gotten engaged to his sweetheart May, can’t help but thrill to the sheer possibility she represents. But while mores may change — the day may come when no one will blink at marrying one of Beaufort’s bastards — morals do not, and that’s why the drama is not dated. Men may be weak despite the strength of their emotions. Women may be wise despite the simplicity of their ideas. (Archer may have the name, but it’s May who wields the bow like the goddess Diana.) And love may demand sacrifice even as it promises fulfillment. Wharton’s genius lies in the interweaving of what passes and what endures, and playwright Karen Zacarias conveys that genius with both brevity and wit.