Playwright/actress Anna Deavere Smith wrote “Let Me Down Easy,” performing it as a one-woman show at regional theatres and on PBS.

Director Kevin Broccoli has taken the production, which is based on Smith’s interviews with famous and not-so-famous people, and recruited an ensemble cast of eight men and women to share the material. He moves the cast and the audience back and forth between the café and adjoining Theatre 82 on Cranston’s Rolfe Street, ending the four-part production with a brief talkback.

Broccoli described Smith’s methodology as “centered on issues related to our bodies and how we push them to their extremes.”

“I envisioned a group of actors, rather than one person,” he said, “and saw the production divided into four sections.

The audience sits randomly in the intimate café, wondering when the doors to the theatre will open. Actors appear and begin talking about their bodies and how they push them. We are then moved into the theatre, where we hear from a bull rider, a boxer, a nurse and a patient, all discussing their occupations and how their bodies relate to them.

Back to the café, where health care becomes the dominant subject before returning to the theatre for a discussion about how we deal with death.

While the presentation deals with some heavy issues, the audience can relate to most of them and is drawn into the characters’ lives.

Interestingly, there is little humor until the final “act” relating to death. For two hours, we are part of candid discussions about being at peace with who we are.

You’ll recognize some of the people being interviewed: former Texas Governor Ann Richards, Lance Armstrong, Joel Siegle. The impact of the dialogue sneaks up on you. While it took me a little time to “get with the program,” my wife, a nurse, was totally engrossed and related to much of what Smith and her interviewers had to say.

It was a fascinating evening of theatre, performed flawlessly by eight fine local actors who really got inside their characters.

“Let Me Down Easy” runs through January 24 at Artists’ Exchange Theatre 82 and Café, 82 Rolfe St., Cranston. Call 490-9475 for reservations or go online at www.epictheatre.org.