Bullet Review: The Coast Starlight, now in previews at Lincoln Center.

It was tough to decide what I enjoyed most about the Coast Starlight Express, a new play by Keith Bunin, now in previews at Lincoln Center. It’s the story of imagined encounters between passengers, each with a riveting slice of life back story, who end up in the same car of the train that runs between Seattle and LA.

Choosing what I enjoyed most about the play presented a tough competition between the crisp, insightful dialog, the perfect casting or the first class acting.

Especially memorable was the show stopping entrance of Liz, played by Mia Barron, who does a human tornado entrance into the train car, scattering her belongings, in the midst of a loud and wild phone call to a friend relaying the details of a disastrous self help seminar she just left where her relationship crashed and burned. As the other characters intently listen, they thoughtfully consider whose side to take in the breakup.

The dramatic anchor is embodied in a noteworthy performance by Will Harrison as T.J. , a kind and decent, young Navy medic tortured by the prospect of a life shattering second tour of duty in Afghanistan or the also life shattering alternative of not going back to his base.

The audience is transformed into another passenger eavesdropping on imagined, caring interactions between strangers, each with beaten up by life, survival stories — six weary travelers who we grow to care about.