Staff photo / Andy Gray From left, Molly Galano, Eric McCrea, Jeanine Rees and Terry Shears star in Youngstown Playhouse’s production of “The Lyons,” the first show in the Playhouse’s new performance space at the Morley Arts Building in downtown Youngstown.

Connor Bezeredi only needed to read the synopsis before he agreed to direct Youngstown Playhouse’s production of “The Lyons.”

Once he got the script, he knew he made the right choice.

“It is telling a story about a family that really has no desire to make anything overly sweet or saccharine,” he said. “They pull no punches, but in that you do have these moments where the dark comedy breaks, and you get to see what keeps families together for as long as it does. I think the thing that appeals to me about it is that, despite the fact that these are people who are really kind of mean to each other, it feels the most like a family that I’ve ever felt from a script.”

“The Lyons” opens Friday for a two-weekend run as the first production at the newly christened The Playhouse Downtown in the Morley Arts Building on West Boardman Street.

Nicky Silver’s play originally opened Off-Broadway in 2011 before moving the following spring to Broadway, where it ran for 80 performances. It received a 2012 Drama Desk nomination for outstanding play, and Linda Lavin earned Tony and Drama Desk nominations for best actress.

It’s billed as a dramatic comedy as it focuses on a family dealing with the imminent death of its patriarch. His wife and two children gather in his hospital room, and the circumstances force them to confront their conflicting fears of both closeness and solitude.

It’s a script filled with biting and profane dialogue that keeps the story moving, even as most of the action takes place in a hospital room, painted in that pale mauve tone that gives the set design by Johnny Pecano a drab, institutional feel.

“I’ve been helped a lot by the playwright there,” Bezeredi said. “These characters are really colorful and lively, and so we have found ways to get people up and moving around that makes sense, even within the confines of the hospital room.”

While the pallor of death may hang over the proceedings, Bezeredi promises there is plenty of laughter as well.

“This show is full of dark humor, and dark humor can make a lot of things passable, or at least acceptable to an audience,” he said. “That’s something that these characters and these actors as these characters do really well. The subject matter of the piece is pretty dark and heavy, so in spite of that, we have worked really hard, all of us, to mine the comedy out of it. We want everybody to have a good time and have a laugh, and we want everybody to know that even though this deals with family trauma, it’s not yours, so it’s okay to laugh at it.”

The cast features Molly Galano, Terry Shears, Eric McCrea, Jeanine Rees, Donovan Rubante and Christine Duster.

“I had so many wonderful, talented people show up to auditions,” Bezeredi said.

“What was really cool about this process of auditions was that I got to look at everybody and see if they made sense as a family, and I was able to find actors who both fit the roles and also look right together. I feel very lucky.”

Because of the work necessary to get The Playhouse Downtown ready for its first production, the cast didn’t get an opportunity to start rehearsing in the space until last week. That wasn’t difficult, Bezeredi said. Shows often rehearse in a different space than where they are staged.

However, “The Lyons” presented other challenges. Because of its hospital setting, a hospital bed was a must. After much searching, one was found.

But that was only half the battle with a third-floor performance space.

“The quirk of this building is, everything for the set, you have to carry up three flights of stairs,” Pecano said. “But we knew that going in.”

If you go …

WHAT: “The Lyons”

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday through March 29

WHERE: The Playhouse Downtown, 220 W. Boardman St., Youngstown

HOW MUCH: Tickets are $17 and are available online at experienceyourarts.org and by calling 330-259-9651.