SOLANA BEACH -- We used to call it the seven-year itch, that niggling sensation of wanting an undefined something that seems to set in after a number of years of marriage and family life.

Playwright Steven Dietz gives us a tour of that unsettling and vulnerable time in “Becky’s New Car.” David Ellenstein directs the local premiere, which plays through Sept. 26 at North Coast Repertory Theatre.

Dietz predicates the action on miscommunication, thereby focusing on comedy rather than illicit intention. The result is a consistently funny piece that will elicit nods of recognition from many in the audience.

Becky (Carla Harting), our late-40s tour guide, has a responsible job as title clerk and office manager at a car dealership, a solid if unexciting husband, Joe (Nicolas Glaeser), and a freeloading son – psychology grad student Chris (Kevin Koppman-Gue), who spouts psychobabble early and often.

One night, working late at the office, the unexpected walks in – a new suitor, the wealthy widower Walter Flood (Mark Pinter) – and gets the mistaken impression that she’s a widow. Though she starts (several times) to clarify the situation, somehow the words never quite get out of her mouth, and soon the situation spirals out of control.

Dietz does like to go on a bit, and loves a tricky plot twist. Though always amusing, the first act seems unnecessarily long. But the real payoff is in the second act, when the decision must be made between the new and exciting and the familiar and comfortable.

Dietz’s approach – having Becky break the fourth wall to ask audience members for help with housework, dressing and even the big decision – seems a bit hokey, but endeared her to the opening-night audience.

Ellenstein’s cast is sterling. Harting (whose acting style reminds me of the wonderful Laura Linney) is utterly believable as she tiptoes her way through this emotional minefield.

The tall, distinguished-looking Pinter, who comes from long experience in television, has a graceful demeanor that reminds me of the tall stranger Ezio Pinza in that wondrous long-ago “South Pacific,” and is perfect in his NCRT debut as Walter. Who wouldn’t respond to a comment like “Things narrow as we age, don’t they, and the unexpected fades away.”

Glaeser is perfect as Joe, as solid emotionally as he is built for comfort.

Even the smaller roles are well cast: Stacey Hardke as Walter’s daughter Kensington, Mueen Jahan as Becky’s nervous-nelly coworker Steve and Glynn Bedington as gold-digging widow Ginger.

“Becky’s New Car” was commissioned by Seattle resident and donor Charles Staadecker as a birthday gift for his wife Benita. What a wonderful legacy.

Oh, that car? Becky reports that a friend is of the opinion that if a woman says she wants a new car, she really wants a new life. Becky gets that car, and the reason it’s in the title is explained by yet another tricky plot twist I’ll leave you to discover.

The details

“Becky’s New Car” plays through Sept. 26 at North Coast Repertory Theatre, 987 Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Suite D, in Solana Beach.

Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m.; Sunday at 2 and 7 p.m. Also select Wednesdays at 7 p.m. and Saturdays at 2 p.m.

For tickets, call (858) 481-1055 or visit www.northcoastrep.org.

To read more reviews by SDGLN Theater Critic Jean Lowerison, click HERE.