Mo'olelo Performing Arts Company makes a promising debut with its inaugural production of company founder Seema Sueko's "Remains."

Sueko wrote the one-act drama, inspired by her own travels in the Middle East, and plays Laila, the lead character in the story of an Arab-American college student whose four-month stay in Israel ends tragically.

"Remains," in its world premiere at the ARK Center for the Performing Arts in San Diego, is both well-acted and well-directed, and Sueko's script has lots of potential. It could still use more of a climactic arch and the secondary characters could use more development, but the details are colorful, the grief is moving, the observations are frequently funny, and the topic is both intriguing and original.

Sueko, who made her local debut as the star of the Old Globe's early summer hit "The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow," launches Mo'olelo with "Remains" and plans a three-play season in 2005. Mo'Olelo means story or legend in Hawaiian, as Sueko was born and raised in Hawaii (she's a Muslim of half-Japanese, half-Pakistani heritage).

In 1993, Sueko traveled to Israel in a study-abroad program, and her detailed journal entries form the skeleton of "Remains." The play's lead character, Laila, lives Sueko's experiences, but Laila's fate was inspired by the death last year of an American college student killed while trying to stop the Israeli destruction of Palestinians' homes in the Gaza Strip.

The play seeks to humanize the struggle between Israeli and Palestinian interests in the West Bank. Arguments are offered on all sides. The Palestinians come off the best, the Israelis appear rigid and defensive, and the American State Department is cold and aloof. Laila bridges all three cultures. She's a fun-loving American who praises the Jews for their vibrant culture and warmth but identifies more with the Arabs' plight.

Set in 1993, "Remains" opens with Laila's grieving mother, Carol Ahmed (subtly and movingly played by Linda Libby), cautiously opening a box of her daughter Laila's keepsakes, sent home from Tel Aviv, where she was killed under mysterious circumstances. She finds Laila's journal, begins reading, and the play hopscotches back in time.

Director Siobhan Sullivan skillfully conveys the play's time and locale transitions so it's always clear where and when we find ourselves, and layers the dialogue and blocking seamlessly. We quickly meet the bubbly Laila (jubilantly played by Sueko), and through her journal entries we follow her on her four-month journey.

The story becomes a travelogue of sorts, with Laila's lively dining, recreational and entertainment experiences interwoven with her political awakening. She writes of near-constant discrimination because of her Arab heritage, she joins an Arab women's protest group in the West Bank, and she befriends a mix of Palestinian and Jews. She's shocked at the people's inability to agree on anything, even something as simple as which culture lays claim to inventing the felafel. Sueko's script is breezy, filled with hilarious observations and very clearly in the voice of a young, optimistic woman. The characters stay away from speechmaking, so the political points in the play are presented in a realistic and non-preachy way.

The play doesn't have a traditional climax. It's more of a roller-coaster ride through Laila's bumpy four months in Israel and the occupied territories. Yet while we learn almost everything about Laila, we learn nearly nothing about her mother, an obviously complex person as played by Libby. And the play's third character, a dimwitted U.S. official played brittlely by Kathryn Venverloh, seems too superficial. Perhaps a little more development of these characters would fill out the drama, which runs just 90 minutes with no intermission.

Robert Dahey created the set, Kim Palma designed the lighting, Paul James Kruse created sound, and Megan Fraher designed the costumes.