In “Maria/Stuart,” a humorous blend of the mundane and the absurd, Jason Grote has given new breadth, depth and meaning to the phrase “dysfunctional family.” When three sisters meet to celebrate their mother’s birthday, they and their children aggravate each other until the air crackles with static.

 

But Grote is not simply poking fun at the unlovely lives of two suburban American families. Right from the beginning he introduces a shapeshifter who appears out of nowhere, spouts German poetry and guzzles soda. Grote’s characters are continually measured by their willingness to admit the presence of this restless searcher for truth, who suggests that the supernatural is as real as quotidian reality.

“Maria/Stuart” is patterned after Friedrich Schiller’s 19th-century Romantic drama “Maria Stuart,” which examines the murder of Mary Queen of Scots at the hand of her cousin, England’s Queen Elizabeth I. But you don’t need to know that play to appreciate the intense rivalry of Grote’s warring sisters, foul-mouthed Lizzie and paranoid Marnie, capably portrayed by Emily Townley and Amy McWilliams, respectively.