If Will Arbery’s “Evanston Salt Costs Climbing were an absurdist play, its non-sense narrative might make some sense. However, this is not a “Waiting for Godot” for post-pandemic Evanston, Illinois, or a pre-recession America. Peter (a foul-mouthed and depressive Jeb Kreager) and Basil’s (an equally foul-mouthed but agreeable Ken Leung) world borders on meaningless and the play’s characters are experiencing isolation. But the playwright’s affinity for the “F” word (could it be uttered any more times?) does not qualify for the exploration of language’s devaluation. There is not enough here to qualify for anything more than a truly sad story of a suicidal public works employee, his compassionate co-worker, their “climate-conscious” supervisor Maiworm (a methodical Quincy Tyler Bernstein) and aimless daughter Jane, Jr. (a desultory Rachel Sachnoff).

Unlike Arbery’s former successful works that allow the audience to “merge into” the narrative and become nurtured and challenged by the venture, “Evanston Salt Costs Climbing” currently running at Pershing Square Signature Center’s Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre lacks the subtlety and moral ambiguity to qualify for a surrealistic encounter with an important truth/theme. The dialogue is straightforward addressing the phase out of Peter and Basil’s employment and the phase in of a road paving technique that does not require the application of toxic and costly salt. There is an “unexpected” affair, a man overwhelmed with the vicissitudes of life and the death of his wife, a boss who places professional gain over employee loyalty and friendship, and her angst-ridden millennial “daughter.”

Matt Saunders’ set design is also straightforward and lacks the mystery of former sets for Arbery’s plays. Isabella F. Byrd’s lighting is appropriately “dark” but not “dangerous” enough. There is no mystery in Evanston and not enough of the absurd to engage an audience hoping for another Will Arbery “journey into the unknown.” One character does disappear (predictably) and another one returns from the same place (also predictably); however, further explanation would require a spoiler alert.

Under Danya Taymor’s careful direction, the cast works hard to parse the importance of the climbing salt costs and the immanent collapse of Western Civilization. There just is not enough here to worry about either in the way one obviously should – especially the collapse part.