Weiss's masterful performance galvanizes the Huntington Theatre Company production of Lanford Wilson's 1987 play. Indeed, in a talky first act, it is his arrival that finally sets things in motion. Even though Nat DeWolf, as the very swishy roommate Larry, offers marvelously timed self-deprecating relief throughout and Anne Torsiglieri makes a valiant effort to be sexy and sympathetic as roommate and choreographer Anna, this is wholly Weiss's play.

The story opens shortly after Anna's return from the funeral of Robbie, who was killed in a boating accident. She is incredulous that his family never saw him dance and appalled by their refusal to acknowledge his life as an artist or homosexual. His death has left her at loose ends. She's been playing it safe. She depended on Robbie's talents to nourish her own artistry. And living with two gay men meant she could set up housekeeping without setting herself up emotionally. Now, suddenly she is untethered professionally and personally.

Pale couldn't be a more unlikely lover. He manages an Italian restaurant in New Jersey and is married with two kids. He struggles to understand what a choreographer is and wonders about the definition of truculent. Anna may be artsy and bohemian, but she's a New York sophisticate with a wealthy screenwriter boyfriend named Burton (Brian Hutchinson). Nevertheless, united by their mutual grief and confusion over Robbie's absence, Pale and Anna clumsily fall in together, perhaps finding in one another some shred of the familiar that they shared with their lost loved one.

This is a handsome production nicely outfitted by James Noone, who evokes a New York loft with a few deft decorative strokes and a wall of windows; Mary Louise Geiger, who knows the grimy qualities of light and dark in Manhattan; and Drew Levy, whose noisy musical interludes agitate the edginess of the action.

Director Susan Fenichell founders in the play's early scenes. Wilson may have taken his time setting up the story but Fenichell shouldn't have taken hers. Once Weiss arrives, however, she finds her stride and the production moves along purposefully. Still, one is left to wonder what "Burn This" would have been like had she pushed Pale to be more dangerous (instead, she lets his gun pose the greater threat) and elicited from Anna a more genuine vulnerability. Then we might have seen the sparks really fly.

"Burn This" at the Huntington Theatre Company, 264 Huntington Ave., Boston, through Dec. 12. Tickets: $14-$69, available at the Box Office at 617-266-0800 and online at www.huntingtontheatre.org or www.bostontheatrescene.com. Running time: 2 1/2 hours.