“Mr. Landing Takes a Fall” is a strange dark comedy that owes a lot to Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” At times, the influence is so obvious that it feels like a knockoff. Yet, despite wearing its inspirations on its sleeve, “Mr. Landing” is still worth the viewing.

Written by Sari Caine and starring Adam LeFevre and Kathy Rossetter, “Mr. Landing Takes a Fall” depicts an old married couple, forever lost in their regrets, and the mind games they play on troubled young newlyweds when they put their house up for sale.

The play starts off  lighthearted in tone and absurd in humor, with the absent-minded and bizarre banter of Mr. and Mrs. Landing. The wife, elegant and charming, dusts the air while her portly husband sits unashamed in his boxers and garters, both divine and in delusion. The actors are completely in sync with the whimsical nature of the material and play it to great effect. Then they meet the newlywed couple, Cynthia (Sari Caine) and Michael (David Rigo), when Mrs. Landing reveals to Mr. Landing that she put the house up for sale. From there, the play takes a dark turn.

Delusion is quickly unmasked. The broken lives of Mr. and Mrs. Landing are revealed, and their marriage begins to unravel in front of the audience’s eyes. All of this is contrasted with the lives of the newlyweds, who appear at once very different and yet, upon closer examination, all too similar to the Landings.

As gripping as the play is, the actual logistics of the backstories get lost in their complexity, and some of the jokes fall flat. One running joke about ejaculation continues for a few minutes, a length far too long for the joke to remain funny. Ultimately, the show too closely relates to Albee’s “Woolf” in design, stage cues, trauma and character. The enjoyment and immersion was dampened by the feeling that it was too reminiscent of a show many viewers, especially the refined art crowd at The Flea, have already seen. “Mr. Landing” does have its own merits — the actors and the writing shine, especially in comparison to the strange, minimalist set design. But, for the most part, “Mr. Landing” perhaps feels underwhelming in comparison to Albee’s superior classic.

It is fascinating to see how quickly the audience becomes uncomfortable as Mr. Landing endlessly makes light of his alcoholism and his wife’s promiscuity, and how Mrs. Landing shamelessly grovels for even an ounce of affection. Viewers will believe it all and their hearts will sink as the Landings reveal themselves to be increasingly indecent people. The play and the characters unearth chillingly naked emotions.

“Mr. Landing Takes a Fall” runs through Oct. 4 at the Flea Theater, 41 White St. in Manhattan.

A version of this article appeared in the Tuesday, Sept. 30 print edition. Email Nikolas Reda-Castelao at [email protected].