She started out playing Lorelei Lee, the prototypical dumb blonde, as if channeling Kristen Chenoweth—and let’s not forget the ghost of Marilyn Monroe and Carol Channing—then came into her own with a winning comic performance.

When a mutual friend sets him up on a blind date with—get this—a blind but aggressive junior executive, Heather (the magnificently expressive Olivia Thirlby), he discovers that returning to the world from which he retreated might be a viable option.

Such a conceit palls quickly, but Grace and Thirlby’s rapport makes us care about their budding relationship: Grace’s smart underplaying lets Thirlby’s physically graceful performance deservedly dominate.

This very specific type of British play might seem passé, but in a spring season where overwritten, underwhelming works like Cock have garnered inexplicable raves, The Common Pursuit’s straightforwardness is refreshing and, in its own way, daring. (Even throwaway lines are wonderfully droll, like Marigold’s response to the question “Are you distraught?”: “No, perfectly traught, thanks.”)