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“The Road to Mecca” is borne out of pristine artistry. Written by an artist, it’s about an artist under siege for maintaining her artistic soul. Athol Fugard, best known for his anti-apartheid dramas, based the play on the life of an eccentric Afrikaner woman living in the outskirts of South Africa. Obviously touched by her plight, Fugard’s writing is deeply sincere yet it bears the mark of an author so personally invested in the work, he seems to have forgotten there’s an audience he needs to entertain.

Helen Martins is famous or perhaps infamous in her desert home for crafting bizarre outdoor sculptures, transforming her vegetable garden into her own personal Mecca. But to her piously provincial neighbors, it’s an eyesore and worse, idolatry. The local parson is dispatched to persuade her to move into a nursing home. But Helen's one ally, Elsa Barlow, a teacher and dear friend, has driven a very long distance to make sure Helen doesn’t get railroaded into abandoning her artistic passion.

Act One is a static and at times tediously repetitive exchange establishing the women's kinship and philosophy of self-expression. It picks up steam with the parson's arrival but Fugard loses us with an excess of symbolism and lengthy speeches.

The excellent cast almost manages to breathe enough life into the work to pique our lulled interest. Carla Gugino proves yet again she’s a beautifully engaging actress. Jim Dale aces the role that Fugard originated, avoiding the trap of making the parson villainous. But the show belongs to Rosemary Harris, who’s spent a lifetime cultivating her own art and delivers even now at age 84 yet another extraordinary portrayal.

Under Gordon Edelstein's acutely sensitive direction, Fugard's writing mastery does shine through here and there and he makes a most worthy point. It's just that he takes far too long to get there.