Energy crackled through every moment of The Jewish Ensemble Theatre’s three-hour production of “The Sisters Rosensweig” by Wendy Wasserstein.

JET opened its 25^th anniversary season with the powerhouse combination of a rich, meaty script and actors who were fully committed and completely engaged to every word and every exchange.

Wasserstein’s intellectual comedy explores such deep themes as identity, familial relationships, ambition, politics, anti-Semitism, love, commitment, religion, aging and loneliness. Three Jewish-American sisters meet in London for the 54^th birthday of the oldest sister, Sara Goode (Sandra Birch). They are joined for dinner by Sara’s daughter, Tess (Madison Deadman); her revolutionary Roman Catholic boyfriend Tom (Eric Eilersen); youngest sister Pfeni’s (Kristin Condon) closet heterosexual boyfriend Geoffrey (Lindel Salow); Geoffrey’s friend Mervyn (Phil Powers); and Sara’s banking colleague Nicholas (John Forman).

Each of the three sisters has chosen different paths in life, though all are intelligent, powerful and vulnerable women. Sara lives in London and has turned her back on her Jewish heritage. She is a banking executive for a Hong Kong bank and has gone through two husbands and has no plans to hook up with a third. The middle sister, Gorgeous (Emily Rose), lives in America and has gone the traditional route of marrying a lawyer and energetically raising four children. She’s now a radio personality dispensing advice to the greater Boston area. Pfeni is a travel writer who is always on the move, writing serious books about the places she visits and the oppressed people she finds there. She is in a long-distance relationship with a flamboyant Broadway director.

It is a play that requires intense engagement from the audience, as there is always something being thrown out, and Wasserstein doesn’t just tell us these women are brilliant – she shows us in their dialogue and in the choices that they make in life.

Director David Magidson made sure he cast each role with actors who were believable in energy level, appearance and ability. Birch is brilliant as Sara, giving us a woman who can be strong and vulnerable in the same sentence and never once make it look like a stretch. She is intense and loving and never lets anyone doubt how committed she is to her career, to her daughter, to her sisters, and to her way of life. Even when Mervyn challenges her assumptions and starts to turn her life sideways, she finds a way to open up to him while being true to who she was and who she is.

The chemistry between Birch and Powers creates the backbone for this story. Powers comes in flamboyant and overbrimming with enthusiasm and excitement. He is unapologetically Jewish, yet spurns wearing the identity as a stereotype; instead he stretches it to fit him. A politically correct furrier who specializes in fake fur, he bursts into the scene and is strong enough to not let Sara’s rudeness bully or intimidate him. Instead, he is fascinated by her, and the two of them are electric together whether they are sparring or falling for one another. They are equally strong in both their affections and arguments.

Condon’s Pfeni is beautiful in many ways, but especially in her vulnerability. She takes the stage as a fascinating woman filled with stories and adventure. It is clear her niece adores her and looks upon her as a role model. It is because she is so strong and self-possessed in the beginning that her later struggles are so very poignant.

Rose gives us a contrast as the sister who pursued what was traditionally expected. She is less serious than her sisters, though by no means the “dumb” sister. She has simply channeled her energies into brand-awareness, family, Jewishness and the American dream.

All three women convincingly play sisters, giving both the text and subtext of sibling rivalry, affection, and closeness.

Jennifer Maiseloff’s scenic design instantly communicates to us that Sarah is successful, takes pride in her life, and has embraced the life of an Anglophile elite. Mathew Lira’s sound design mixed in music appealing to these 40- and 50-something women living in 1991.

“The Sisters Rosensweig” is remarkable in how close it comes to perfection. Every moment is beautifully managed throughout the three hours, and each of the characters is believably real in their passions, desires, dreams and letdowns. Despite their losses and their disappointments, they are left with hope, something they send with the audience at the final curtain call.