“I’ve lived my life for you! My mother lived her life for me. That’s what family means — each generation destroying itself willingly, for what comes after. Even if it’s you!”

That’s a quote from “Independence,” a new drama that details the dysfunctional relationships of a mother living in the small town of Independence, Iowa, and her three daughters.

Playing at PowPAC, Poway’s Community Theatre through March 28, it marks the first drama produced at the theater, located at 13250 Poway Road, this season.

It’s an emotional theater piece, one that’s gracefully directed and powerfully acted by the four female leads, two of whom make their PowPAC debuts in this production of a Lee Blessing play.

“Independence” is an honest and unflinching look at a family that doesn’t know how to communicate, whether it’s the manipulative mother, the slaving middle daughter, the professor who returns in an attempt to set things right or the promiscuous 19-year-old who can’t wait to get out of the small town, where a traffic signal is referred to as “the light.”

But be warned, if you’re looking for light fare, this may not be for you.

As an audience member, it’s the equivalent of being thrown into an emotional wringer. It’s a complicated adult drama that succeeds with what it sets out to do, to present the tale of these deeply flawed characters. It doesn’t come with a clear and happy ending, although the easy interaction of the actresses at the curtain call does break up the bleakness of the two-hour production.

At the play’s outset, Kess, the eldest daughter (Kaly McKenna, last seen at PowPAC as the lead in “Fuddy Meers”) returns to the home she hasn’t been to in five years at the behest of her middle sister, Jo (PowPAC newcomer Krysti Litt) who is having trouble dealing with their mother, Evelyn (Dee Kelley).

Her arrival isn’t a perfect homecoming, something that may be largely due to the fact that last time that Kess, a professor in Minneapolis, drove down she decided to put Evelyn in a mental institution for three months.

Evelyn has been acting up, says the newly pregnant Jo, noting that their mother pushed her down a sidewalk and that the landing chipped bones in her back.

Jo has problems of her own. For years she’s sacrificed her life to help her mother and now she’s realizing that maybe she’s given too much of herself, as she’s rejected a marriage proposals from the only man she’s known and now he’s dating someone else.

Jo’s life is a contrast of Sherry (Maleia Gruber), who seems to live for no one but herself and who seems to be barely a blip on her mother’s radar. This neglect may be a formative feature of Sherry’s character, whose tough exterior hides deep insecurities.

Evelyn is a manipulator, who knows just what to say to control both Jess and Kess, whether it’s by hurtful words, guilt trips, lashing out or acting up.
Still, as she’s portrayed by Kelley (who has been in several PowPAC productions) the character is not altogether unlikable.

The greatest tragedy of Evelyn, and all of the characters in “Independence,” is how they’re unable to communicate to each other, something that becomes painfully clear as they try to go through a therapy exercise in the second act.

Much credit goes to director Jay Mower — a PowPAC veteran who returns to the Poway theater after helming 2007’s “A Streetcar Named Desire” — for mining the play for its heart and not overplaying the fight scenes.

“Independence” plays Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. It is produced by Sherrie and Joel Colbourn.

Tickets are $15 general admission, $13 for seniors, students and active military.
For more information on the play, go to www.powpac.org.