“Particularly in the Heartland,” this weekend’s offering Ice Factory, Soho Think Tank’s annual summer festival, makes a particularly strong case for the virtues and rewards of new theater. Created and performed by the shockingly talented ensemble, the TEAM, winners of the 2005 Fringe First Awards in Edinburgh, the piece is unconventional drama at its very best.

A fragmented, dream-like story of three siblings living alone in rural Kansas following their parents’ disappearance, the story veers into the realm of sci-fi upon visitation by Robert Kennedy, portrayed as a plane crash victim and possible alien.

“Particularly in the Heartland” is an unusually honest and subtle rumination on our country and what it means to be an American, and is remarkable in this day and age for its refreshing lack of proselytizing. The youthful company addresses complex issues with wit, humor, and absolute sincerity, and their treatment is gratifying to watch. Jake Margolin as Robert Kennedy and Kristen Sieh as Anna give tremendous performances, though the energy, skill and consummate charm of the entire ensemble is beyond question. The set, designed by Nicholas Vaughn, is both unexpectedly clever and functional: an adept stage for the seemingly inexhaustible physicality of the sprightly cast.

The piece starts to lose focus in its final 10 minutes, though perhaps only in comparison to the vastly entertaining first hour that precedes them. In attitude, execution, and enthusiasm, “Particularly in the Heartland” embodies all that is commendable in young and exiting new theater.

Until July 22 (66 Wooster Street, between Broome and Spring Streets, 212-966-4844).