Dysfunctional couples of D.C., take note. Chances are you’ve got nothing on Doris and Felix.

The duo are the stars of Actors’ Theatre of Washington’s take on The Owl and the Pussycat, and director Lee Mikeska-Gardner has put together a production that can be as unsettling as it is uproarious. In the play, Doris comes knocking on the door of the reclusive Felix, barging in during the middle of the night and claiming a spot on his couch; after all, it’s the least he can do after getting her evicted by informing her landlord informing the fact that she’s a prostitute. From that night forward, Doris and Felix form a charged but contentious romantic relationship, where passion, pity, self-loathing, compassion and contempt all are at play in different moments.

Doris is played by Jeffrey Johnson, a consistently fascinating performer to watch, and the production acknowledges that the character, in fact, is a man in drag as well, without ever dealing with it directly in the dialogue. Sophisticated takes on sexuality are a signature attribute of ATW plays, frequently adding depth to their productions. Johnson is wonderful here as Doris, a marvel of contradictions: abrasive and then soothing, garish and then almost unconsciously elegant.