I left not really sure what I had just witnessed. A political satire? A tragicomic, philosophical metaphor on America’s current political situation? A modern Greek drama? Maybe all of these things, or maybe none. I don’t really know what was truly going on in student-playwright Seamus Sullivan’s (SFS ’08) “Lost in the Brain of a Great Man,” the featured play in Mask and Bauble’s annual Donn B. Murphy One-Act Festival this weekend.

But I do know one thing: I liked it. I liked it a lot. I walked away thoughtful, disconcerted, amused, humbled and a bit enlightened — feelings every good play should inspire in its audience.

Although highfalutin in his language and overly abstract and theatrical in his scenarios to the point of clearly being amateur theater (over-the-top prophecies and a crazy Russian firing shots into the air are just a couple), Sullivan has unmistakably grown as a writer and dramatist since his last Georgetown show, last year’s dreadfully boring and obtuse “McSwiggen and the Ghost.” “Lost” is far from perfect, but its contemporary political pertinence, wonderful references to ancient Greek theater and, in the end, pure pathos, make it both thought-provoking and intelligent.

The play’s premise is, as best as I can describe it, a look inside the brain of the president the night before the State of the Union address. Characters and events are supposed to represent his thoughts, fears, desires, even fantasies.

This president’s “brain,” in the words of director Conor Smith (COL ’10), is a “city” and the events that take place in it. There is Santiago (Reilly Hart, COL ’11), the overworked and underpaid bureaucrat who runs the fictional Office of Olfactory Affairs, and his colleagues, a Greek chorus of administrative assistants, perfectly played by sinister and malevolent Meghan O’Connor (COL ’10), bumbling and uncertain Keith Porcaro (SFS ’08) and Margaux Vose (COL ’08), a juxtaposition of a Stepford wife and raging Medea. Life at their office is interrupted one stormy night when the ambiguously homeless Russian immigrant Yuri — absolutely perfectly played by Anna Klis (SFS ’11) — barges in with Cassandra, a neighbor who, after being hit by a piece of falling rubble in the storm, has fainted (Marjory Collado, COL ’09). Without giving the rest of the plot away, I will just say that chaos then ensues, including a bombing, torture and murder.

Sullivan’s references to Greek drama are especially pertinent. All the Greek types are present: the hero, the aforementioned chorus, a prophet and an opponent. There are also Greek themes: moral choice, love, responsibility and passion. It’s not that using ancient Greek theater conventions in a modern play is anything new — Woody Allen frequently uses the devices — but this play’s combination of them with political discourse and rhetoric gives Sullivan’s message added weight, force and authority.

The show’s actors, like most Georgetown productions, are all capable, though I found Collado’s portrayal as the psychic Cassandra frustrating with her irritating, overly dramatic voice and gestures. Collado has talent, but she needs to lose her “actress” voice and make her characters sound and look as real as they are. Only then will her portrayals actually be believable and meaningful.

It is freshman Klis’s performance as the deranged, yet ultimately pitiable, Yuri, however, that completely makes the show. Everything she does is right on the mark — the heavy Russian accent, the blundering, active jumps and falls, the energetic and dynamic shouts and yells. Klis manages the always- difficult task of playing an antihero — her Yuri is both reprehensible yet lovable and condemnatory but pitiable.

Although I’m not really sure what the message of “Lost in the Brain of a Great Man” ultimately is, I am still thinking about it and trying to figure it out — and I like that. Great theater, whether it is light, funny, tragic or even ridiculous, should always make you think, and should be commended Sullivan and the cast and crew for putting on such a provocative production. Plays like “Lost” get me excited about seeing theater at Georgetown, especially home-grown talent like Sullivan. Now if only I could figure out what it all means …