LOS ANGELES – Don’t think of this as a premiere. Think of it as a playdate. A high-profile playdate organized by David Mamet.

“Dave just came home one day with a play and said, ‘Let’s get these lovely actors who’ve we’ve worked with for many years to come and play with us,'" said actress Rebecca Pidgeon. "So we’re just playing. We’re like kids playing the sand pile.”

Pidgeon is married to the Pulitzer Prize winning playwright and has performed in many of his shows and movies.  In fact, many members of this cast which includes William H. Macy, David Paymer, and Clark Gregg, who have known each other for decades.

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“That’s a different kind of experience.  There is a shorthand," Gregg said. "A bunch of us did this movie “State and Main” together which was maybe the most fun I’ve ever had on a movie.  And I’ve had some fun.”

Working on the show is a joy, the actors say, even though the subject matter is dark. Part of what makes it so satisfying to perform, but challenging to memorize is Mamet’s famous style of writing.  

“There’s an element of poetry to it," Gregg said. "It’s not strictly naturalistic. It’s written in what he calls free verse.”

“I find that when I’m learning the lines, it kind of organizes my brain rather like playing a Bach piece," Pidgeon said.

For her, comparing the script to music makes sense. The singer/songwriter released a new album last year and is currently in the midst of a residency at the Hotel Café in Hollywood.

“It’s my favorite place to play here in LA," Pidgeon said.

Performing her music is different from acting, but she says she gets the same thrill from both experiences.

“When I’m singing, I’m playing my own songs and I’m playing with a great band and it’s music. It’s very joyful," Pidgeon said. "It’s the same joy you feel when you are acting a play that you care about. It’s great art and it’s feeding you.”

Art, of course, can be moving and she has seen firsthand how Mamet’s work can affect audiences. During the first run of Oleanna in New York, she says people would linger at the theatre arguing with each other and sometimes with her. She recalled one encounter when an upset woman approached her after the show.

“’How could you do what you do what you did to that man,’" Pidgeon said. "And I said ‘Well, I was acting in the play. I was learning my lines, and I said, my lines.’ I took to leaving through by back door after that incident. Escaping.”

But not entirely. She says David Mamet’s plays are always controversial, and she expects this one will be no different. Finding joy amid the controversy? That’s an art form too.

The Christopher Boy’s Communion runs through February 23 at the Odyssey Theatre.