Loeb Mainstage. Nov. 18 and 19. 8 p.m. Tickets available through the Harvard Box Office, (617) 496-2222. $12/10/8.

Whatever else one may think about Tony Kushner’s dramatization of the fall of Communism in Russia, the punctuation of its title is certainly unexpected. After all, whatever the play’s oft-discussed “spiritual genius of the Slavic people” actually is—suggested answers include sorrow, vodka, and the motherland—it’s pretty clear that it’s not the kind of joyful exuberance that requires an exclamation point at the end.

Kushner is, of course, the type of playwright who tends to embellish everything he does with an emotional exclamation point—think “Angels in America,” his award-winning play about the AIDS crisis. “Slavs!” is no exception. The play is divided into three loosely linked stories about ordinary Russians, each involving surreal circumstances, sweeping dialogue, and, naturally, intense and unceasing discussion of the political problems of the age. Kushner’s parenthetical subtitle—“(Thinking About the Longstanding Problems of Virtue and Happiness)”—is in keeping with such ambition.

According to Aoife E. Spillane-Hinks ’06, who is directing the production, it was this aspect of the play that drew her to it in the first place. “‘[Slavs!]’ not only provided opportunities for larger-than-life artistic choices, it required them,” says Spillane-Hinks. “A student director working on the Mainstage runs a risk that the vast space will dwarf actors. I knew that this show would push us towards staging and design strategies that would fight against that danger.”

Yet in spite of all its philosophical and visual grandeur, Spillane-Hinks insists that the HRDC production of “Slavs!” is intimate and personal at heart. “‘Slavs!’ is not merely an idea play; it is a play that struggles with fundamental elements of being human.”

Whether it’s this essential humanity, Kushner’s intriguing script, or the HRDC’s splendid acting and staging that draws audiences to “Slavs!,” the play is well worth a viewing—and an exclamation point.