Micah McCoy and Bridget Kelly

The Vincent in Vincent in Brixton is Vincent van Gogh. (According to the play, it should be pronounced "fun goch" like a Scottish loch.) Brixton is a southern suburb of London. What was Vincent van Gogh doing in London? Apparently, he was sent to England at about age 20 to work for the Goupil company, an art trading firm. Apparently he spoke English quite well, and his family (his uncles were art dealers) figured that this would be a good entry into the business. At this point in his life, he had no intention of becoming an artist himself. In fact, nearly all of his famous paintings were done in the last five years of his life, before his death at age 37.

He stayed for several months in a rooming house in Brixton, and in his letters home he said that he was in love with Eugenie Loyer, the daughter of the widow who owned the home. From this bit of biography, Nicholas Wright has crafted a wonderful play that deservedly won the Olivier Award in 2003. Wright's conceit is that, although Vincent might have initially been attracted to Eugenie, the woman he truly fell in love with was Ursula Loyer, her mother. The fact that she was old enough to be Vincent's mother was not an impediment ... until the affair was discovered, of course. This is probably all fictional, but who cares? It makes for a compelling and heartrending story.

If you know about the rest of Vincent's life and work, you will notice the inchoate ideas he picks up in Brixton that are developed later in his productive years: the starry night, cherry blossoms in the Japanese style, boots, potatoes, and why he goes to Arles. But the greatest gift he receives from Ursula, he says, is lifelong sorrow.

Even if one knows very little about van Gogh, the play stands on its own. It could have descended into melodrama, but it doesn't, and its reserve and humor make it all the more effective. I'm so thankful that Victoria J. Liberatori, the director, found this play and brought it to Albuquerque.

She has gathered together a dream cast and crew. Micah McCoy looks like what I imagine a healthy Vincent van Gogh would look like (not the van Gogh of the self-portraits), and he makes him a real person: socially inept and obsessive, maybe, but not yet mentally ill. (At first, I was disappointed by Micah's lack of a strong Dutch accent, but then I recalled that the Dutch are famous for their facility with languages. I have met people in Holland who speak English like they were born and raised in the UK, even though they have never been there.)

I can't imagine anyone playing the role of Ursula better than Bridget Kelly. The right age but strikingly attractive, you can see why Vincent would fall for her. After he leaves, the devastation in her face is heartbreaking, and the understanding and forgiveness she evinces in the last moments of the play are transporting.

There is strong support from the other three actors. Kir Kipness as Eugenie, Travis Armstrong as Eugenie's boyfriend (a commercial painter and, in this story, a significant influence on van Gogh), and Mandy Hanson as Vincent's sister Anna are all simply excellent.

The set by Liz Foster (her first set design, and I don't know how she can top it), lighting and sound by Lucas Zuniga (also the stage manager), props by Tobanna Barker, and costumes by Quinn Perry are all truly first-rate. Helen Nestor painted the beautiful and important cherry blossom border design on the walls of the Loyer home.

On opening night, there were not very many people in the audience. I hope this was only because there were so many other plays running in Albuquerque, with four openings on the same Friday night. This show deserves a packed house for every performance. It's really that good.

Vincent in Brixton by Nicholas Wright, directed by Victoria J. Liberatori, is being presented at the Aux Dog Theatre in Albuquerque. On Monte Vista NE, just north of Central. Running through May 3, 2015. Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00, Sundays at 2:00. Tickets are $20, $18, or, if you are under 30 years old, $15. Info at www.auxdog.com.

--Dean Yannias