Big Love playwright Charles Mee is a genius of a peculiar kind. He is unique in his ability to poignantly unveil the moral underbelly of love and marriage and all its idiosyncrasies using little more than a Greek tragicomedy and a whole lot of aggression.

He gives us brides with knives, grooms descending from helicopters, frenzied violence and brief yet tender romance. Now, 10 years after its 1999 premier, Big Love takes over the UW School of Drama in the form of MFA student Desdemona Chiang’s directorial thesis.

The tale begins immediately after what must have been the largest mass jilting in world history; 50 Greek brides flee their 50 Greek fiancés, seeking refuge at the Italian villa of Piero (played by Brian Demar Jones) and his family.

Three brides and their three fiancés represent the 100 betrothed Greeks onstage, each one offering a distinct prototype for their sexes. There is the mild-mannered romantic Lydia, portrayed with a lovely adolescent confusion by Heather Rash, the ball-busting feminist Thyona, tackled with an often-frightening aggression by Hannah Franklin, and the pamper-me-please Olympia, played with garrulous humor by Amanda Zarr.

The grooms are similarly diverse and seem to fit all too well with their respective brides.

The gentle, loquacious Nikos (Richard Sloniker), the perfect tool Constantine (Jason Sanford), and the dim-witted Oed (Thomas Stroppel) arrive in Italy shortly after the brides, bringing all sorts of drama with them.

As the marital standoff escalates, so does the emotional turbulence of the six betrothed. In a sequence of scenes near the middle of the play, the frustration of marital servitude drives the three brides into a stomping, flipping, slamming manifestation of unspeakable emotion.

And just a few minutes later, in perfect symmetry, the futility of lust drives the grooms to similar self-inflicted violence in a piece of choreography only rivaled by the blood-soaked final scene of the play.

The visuals are consistently striking.

Chiang’s delicate blocking complements choreographer Rachel Randall’s barbaric physicality.

The set, designed by Deanna Zibello, is both elegant and flexible, alternating between picture-perfect Mediterranean villa and battle-royale coliseum, complete with a full bathtub.

One recurring treat is guest actress Betty Campbell’s role as Bella, the villa’s wise, unflappable matriarch. A blend of dry humor and slightly bitter old age, she is irresistible. Also impressive is Stephen Levall’s performance as Giuliano, the villa’s homosexual-in-residence, with his deceptively emotional musings.

The production falters ever so slightly during the few momentum-halting musical numbers. Pop culture non-sequiturs are a difficult endeavor and should be included either with caution or absolute abandon. In this case, though fun, they lack the gripping energy of the rest of the play.

Big Love is a one-of-a-kind script. It’s too aggressive to be a romance, and too poignant to be an all-out farce, but if handled with a more than a dose of ambition, it can speak volumes on the complex subject of love. In this regard, Chiang has really pulled out all the stops; it’s exciting, it’s unpredictable, it’s funny and the sex is fantastic.

Reach reporter Trevor Pendras at arts@dailyuw.com.