“The Philadelphia Story” is an imperishable piece of America theater, not only for the wit of its dialogue by playwright Philip Barry but because it is a chronicle of the customs and manners of an era past, pre-World II America. During the Great Depression, play and movie audiences fed on such sophisticated and “escapist” comedy about lives which they could only dream of.

In those days, much of the wealth of “elite” American society had been handed down from previous generations and many of its progeny resided — removed from the concerns of ordinary Americans — in the suburbs called Main Line, Philadelphia. These even looked down upon the more cafe and publicity-oriented New York City socialites.

Whether Barry wrote this as a metaphor for that era or not, the characters are mostly stereotypical representatives of the class structure in 1939.

Tracy Lord (Loring Williams) is the indulged daughter of the wealthy Lord family. Golf and horses had been her major accomplishments in her self-absorbed world.

She had been married to a member of her own social class, an equally self-absorbed neighbor, C. K. Dexter Haven (Jake Vincent), but is now only one day away from marrying George Kittredge (Louis Schilling), a self-made man from the lower social classes.

Arriving on the scene to “reluctantly” cover this social event are two assigned journalists from the middle “working” class, writer Mike Connor (Alan Phinney), an aspiring best-selling novelist, and photographer Liz Imbrie (Heather Galli), who has a crush on Mike.

Much of the dialogue in the play is an exploration of irreconcilable social differences.

Tracy’s mother Margaret (Charlotte Jacobs) is a sweet, but mostly clueless social matron. Her precocious 15 year-old sister Dinah (Jillian Jameson) is a self-assured bundle of energy and is socially wise beyond her years. Her father Seth (Don DeMico) is estranged from the family and is living close by with his mistress, as does her aging and beloved skirt-chasing “Uncle Willie” Tracy (Don Cima).

Tracy’s brother Sandy (Danny Martin), happily married and with children, arrives for the wedding and gives sympathetic support to Tracy. He appears to be the only “normal” member of the family.

As the play develops, Tracy and Mike fall for each and there becomes a question as to who will be the groom at the altar the next day. To complicate things, the former husband, D. K. Dexter, has intruded upon the scene through an invitation by Dinah and he begins to maneuver to manipulate the results.

The casting and direction of the play by Toni Tomei is inspired. Not a weak member in the cast and the pacing is perfect. And Hillbarn still comes up with about the best, most beautiful; and most appropriate sets of any theater in the Bay area, this one by Robert Broadfoot.

Since this play was written with Katharine Hepburn in mind, it would be tempting to imitate her supercilious voice and manner but, Tomei and Loring Williams are wise in letting Williams leave her own imprint in this version and this talented actress comes off as a confused but sympathetic Tracy and it works.

As Dinah, her sister, 14-year-old Jillian Jameson could be labeled a “prodigy,” she is so far advanced in acting skills for her age. Jake Vincent puts in a strong performance as the cynical and pragmatic former husband Dexter. Danny Martin as Sandy, keeps improving as an actor in his many roles with Hillbarn. Alan Phinney is showing he is up for any major role thrown at him. Ron Collins and Ruth Sieber appear in supporting roles as employees of the Lord family.

The structure of the play itself stands in the way of making this a perfect production. The old-fashioned three-act format just doesn’t work anymore, especially when there is a lot of “gab” dialogue in the second act.

Other than that, I would say, Hillbarn batted another “homer” with this replay of “The Philadelphia Story.”