The cast of Brainpeople (Rorschach Theatre).

When a woman offers two strangers $20,000 to dine with her for an evening, there’s naturally got to be a catch. But in Jose Rivera’s Brainpeople, being given a thoughtful, intimate staging by Rorschach Theatre Company, none of the cliche scenarios and hypotheticals that may have popped into the mind apply to what’s about to happen to this trio of women from disparate, if equally desperate backgrounds.

Our host for the evening is Mayannah (Regina Aquino), a statuesque, wild-eyed heiress who has hired Rosemary (Monalisa Arias) and Ani (Amanda Thickpenny) as her companions for the night. It’s clear from her first few lines that Rosemary has brought more than one guest with her for the evening (per the play’s title), while Ani’s own demons are bottled up a little more deeply – at least at first. There’s more mystery to Mayannah as well, and it goes beyond exactly what meat is being used in those kabobs she’s serving.

Rivera’s a contemplative, poetic playwright who clearly has found his way into the Rorschach company’s heart – the company first introduced audiences to him with 2007’s References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot. He’s a talky writer, too, and his words here fly by so quickly, and on so many different tangents, it’s easy to feel like one’s missing some of his nuances.