All of the cast members shine in UNC Wilmington’s production of Alan Ayckbourn’s “Private Fears in Public Places.” Four stories are woven into over 50 scenes filled with sexual tension and mystery. Each story is separate, but ultimately they all connect in some way.

The action takes place in London, in various spaces: a real estate office, a TV room, a sitting room, a kitchen, a bedroom, a restaurant and a hotel bar. All these spaces are presented on one stage set, which was brilliantly designed. The lighting is exceptional and allows for seamless scene transitions.

Set designer Bob Alpers came up with an ingenious design of seven fly panels that block off areas of the set for different scenes. Crewmembers are literally constantly changing the set, and it takes five people just to run the manual fly sets.

There are so many short, quick scenes within Ayckbourn’s play, that it’s like watching a well-played tennis match. It’s so well played that the viewer feels empathy for the characters’ feelings of loneliness and longing for love. Just as in real life, things are complicated, but they are presented in a way easily understood by an observer.

Dan (Wilson Meredith) has just been released from the military, is unemployed and spends his days drinking at a bar. He and his partner Nicola (Nicole Nelson) are not connecting anymore. The couple is working with their real estate agent Stewart to find a new flat, and Nicola is resentfully longing to marry Dan.

Stewart (Nick Reed) and Imogen (Dottie Davis), brother and sister, live together as if they were old maid spinsters. Stewart spends his lonely nights eating frozen dinners and watching television. A coworker lends him an interesting video tape, which he becomes infatuated with. Imogen spends her evenings trolling for male companionship, unbeknownst to Stewart.

Ambrose (Josh Browner) is caring for his invalid father (Cabot Basden) that he has been estranged from for most of his life. His father Arthur is an angry pervert. Ambrose is also the bartender who’s pouring Dan’s drinks at the bar, advancing Dan’s career as an alcoholic.

Charlotte (Kristina Auten) is a devout Bible thumping Christian with a dark side. She is Stewart’s secretary at the real estate agency where Stewart is employed. Charlotte takes a job moonlighting as caregiver for Ambrose’s ailing, raging father Arthur.

Despite four separate story lines, the plot is fast moving. The entire cast speaks in a British accent, which they pull off wonderfully. Dialect coach Chris Marino has been coaching the actors since they were cast.

Casting began the week school started, said Christine Scardino, the assistant stage manager for the production.

“The best we can come up with to describe the show is ‘Six Degrees of British People.’ In ‘Six Degrees of Separation,’ everybody knows somebody through someone else,” said Scardino.

The show is being directed by Paul Costagno. According to the UNCW’s Department of Theater web page, Castagno was recently honored with a prestigious 2014 Fulbright Scholar award to the United Kingdom, where he will be researching Ayckbourn’s work at the University of York.