“Good Bones,” by James Ljames, the Pulitzer-winning author of “Fat Ham,” is essentially a debate about gentrification, with sharply different views expressed by the characters, and also, perhaps unintentionally, by the set – which winds up  the most persuasive of the arguments, and is frankly the freshest aspect of the production.

The set, designed by Maruti Evans, is of the kitchen in a grand abandoned old house that Aisha (Susan Kelechi) has bought with her husband Travis (Mamoudou Athie.) We first see it obscured by plastic drapes (both behind and in front of the actors, functioning as a scrim), in the midst of an extensive remodeling by the contractor whom the couple has hired, Earl (Khris Davis.)
Aisha grew up  in the neighborhood where the house is located, in a nearby housing project, escaping as soon as she could, viewing the entire neighborhood as run-down and dangerous.  She has returned for a job, and, we eventually learn, for a mission. “Whenever I pass those housing projects…I don’t know…the little girl that grew up in those projects just wants to heal that place.“

Earl grew up in the projects, too, and never left. He views it as home.

At first, Aisha and Earl, who didn’t know each other as children, bond over their shared hometown. But then he learns about the job that brought her back:  She is a consultant on the urban development project connected to the building of a sports complex. To Aisha, it will bring jobs and revitalize the neighborhood. To Earl, it will destroy it.

A model of the neighborhood and the proposed changes prompts a vivid illustration of their different worldviews. Earl points out the best ever sandwich shop, the place where he first kissed a girl, the church where he and his sister were confirmed – all of which will be knocked down. Later, Aisha points to the place where her friend was  shot 19 times, the block where she was beat up, and the apartment where her Mom died young from overwork.

Earl’s sister Carmen (Téa Guarino), who is home from college for the summer and helping Earl with the remodeling, sees both points of view, or rather, gently argues with each of them. She points out to Earl that one of the places he’s waxing nostalgic about was so dangerous he wouldn’t let her go there alone when they were kids. (“I believe in transformation, not elimination,” he replies.) To Aisha, Carmen says: “You know dangerous places also produce really strong and resilient people. Look at you.”

The familiar clash of views over gentrification is the foundation of “Good Bones,” but playwright Ijames and director Saheem Ali try, with modest success, to build a believable world on top of it. Each of the four characters are constructed with precise details, and all portrayed winningly by the quartet of fine actors. There is much attention paid to the relationship between Aisha and Travis, a chef who is in the process of opening up a restaurant. There is tension in their marriage, in part because he grew up wealthy, which Aisha both resents and envies (an attitude that hints at a more complicated explanation for her wanting to demolish the poor neighborhood of her childhood.)  There are also a couple of incidents that nod toward a plot, and some desultory suggestions that the  house is haunted, which is certainly true of it metaphorically. Another metaphor, elaborate and revealing, nestles in an extended argument over which knobs to use for the kitchen cabinets. Travis wants the most expensive, Aisha the cheapest. Earl agrees with Travis, because these knobs, which he designed and made by hand, reproduce those that were originally in the house, when it was occupied by Sister Bernice, who was from a prominent family in the community and served as the first Black woman in the City Council. (The city is never named.)

But what most moves “Good Bones” forward is not plot or character or argument, but the design. Oana Botez’s costumes are a pleasing mix of character shorthand and aesthetic pleasure that makes us anticipate the next costume change. But above all, it’s Maruti Evans’ set. The characters take down the annoying plastic drapes little by little, teasing more and more of a peek until the final reveal of a spacious, sleek, monochromatic kitchen and dining room with a row of beautiful cabinets (although admittedly it’s hard to see the knobs), which mixes the old with the new, just like gentrification at its best aims to do.

Good Bones
Public Theater through October 27
Running time: 1 hour and 50 minutes with no intermission.
Tickets: $95. Rush/student: $30
Written by James Ijames
Directed by Saheem Ali
Scenic design by Maruti Evans, costume design by Oana Botez, lighting design by Barbara Samuels, sound design by Fan Zhang, hair and wig design by Krystal Balleza.
 Cast: Mamoudou Athie as Travis, Khris Davis as Earl, Téa Guarino as Carmen, Susan Kelechi Watson as Aisha.