As a value proposition, it’s hard to beat 5th Wall Theatre’s “Sanctuary City.” It’s essentially two very different plays packaged neatly into a dynamic, consistently surprising 90-minute show.

In providing a ton of insight into the modern immigrant experience, as well as loads of compelling interpersonal drama, this production also delivers above and beyond its relatively brief running time.

“City” starts with a staccato series of scenes that explicate the long-standing relationship between B (Erich Appleby) and G (Anne Michelle Forbes), two teenagers living in Newark, New Jersey, navigating high school as well as their illegal immigrant status. Set in the early 2000s, their anxiety has been elevated thanks to the recent and nearby Sept. 11 attacks on the Twin Towers.

G regularly sneaks over to B’s apartment to escape her mom’s abusive partner while B’s mother, tired of the constant threat of deportation, has started to make plans to return to her native country.

Though the characters’ countries of origin are never specified, this production’s casting insinuates that G may be more likely considered a “good” immigrant, adding complexity to the generic character names beyond “girl” and “boy.”

A subtle rift begins forming between the inseparable friends when G’s mom is naturalized, effectively bestowing citizenship on her daughter. Ultimately, G tries to extend this benefit to B. They start making plans to get married, despite the resolutely non-romantic nature of their relationship.

This impressively concise backstory sets up the distinctly different second part of the show. While character interactions are all short snippets early on, many as brief as a second or two, the back half of the show luxuriates in one long interlude where a third character, Henry (Keaton Hillman), complicates the already precarious plans B and G have outlined.

From the jump, “City” seems engineered to jolt the audience out of complacency. A jarringly loud sound design by Kyle Epps punctuates the quick cuts between early scenes. During this part of the play, director Juliana Caycedo maintains the lightning-fast pace by eschewing props and set details, G gaining entry to B’s bedroom without messing with the mechanics of opening a window, for instance.

While initially unsettling, the style of the play’s beginning effectively telescopes years’ worth of trust-building between the characters. In quickly repeating several near identical scenes, we see the many times B has covered for G at school or G has brought B food. We see the strength of their bond through this repetition and feel it that much more intensely when it starts to fray.

The small cast brings captivating nuance to their performances. Appleby alternates between anger and bonhomie early on, layering on levels of loss, desperation, and something like hope as the play develops. Forbes puts up a shield of defiance in her initial scenes but, as her character’s prospects for a new life emerge, she tempers her excitement with empathy and even shame as G attempts to assist B in escaping his non-citizenship limbo.

And the fleeting look of unexpected affection she flashes when the characters find themselves slow dancing at the senior prom is breathtaking.

Hillman makes the most of his short time on stage, convincingly projecting a rollercoaster of competing emotions as devastating choices are made at the play’s conclusion.

Dasia Gregg’s set design nicely accentuates the difference between the two parts of the play, the simple, blocky, and mostly bare stage of the first half efficiently expanding into a fully realized and finely-detailed apartment in the second half.

If only considering its premise, it would be easy to pigeonhole “Sanctuary City” as a reactionary social commentary on the plight of young illegal immigrants, referred to as DREAMers because of legislation that would grant them citizenship.

But this dense, propulsive story by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Martyna Majok delivers a more universal and powerful message: In a fear-forward society where your world can be disrupted at any moment, and you’re never sure what to be afraid of, even the strongest bonds can be shattered.

5th Wall Theatre’s “Sanctuary City” is playing at Richmond Triangle Players’ Robert B. Moss Theatre, 1300 Altamont Ave. through March 22. Tickets and information at https://www.5thwalltheatre.org/sanctuary-city.