Sharp dialogue delivered by a quintet of superb actors enlivens Other Desert Cities, Jon Robin Baitz’s entertaining if ultimately overly familiar dysfunctional family drama. Director Joe Mantello’s superb staging of this work about a California clan squabbling over the revelation of family secrets makes the play feel weightier than it actually is, but there’s no denying the sheer proficiency of this world premiere Lincoln Center Theater production that is already being buzzed about for a Broadway transfer.

The play is largely set during Christmastime in 2004 in the lush Palm Springs home (beautifully rendered in John Lee Beatty’s creamy set design) of solid Republicans Lyman (Stacy Keach) and Polly Wyeth (Stockard Channing). Lyman, a former well-known actor, eventually parlayed his fame into an ambassadorship during the Reagan administration, but is now happily retired.

Joining them for the holidays are Polly’s sharp-tongued, alcoholic sister Silda (Linda Lavin), fresh out of rehab; apolitical son Trip (Thomas Sadowski), who created a hot new television reality show; and liberal daughter Brooke (Elizabeth Marvel), a New York City-based writer—dressed all in black, natch—with a successful novel to her credit.

What starts out as a jolly reunion quickly turns heated when Brooke reveals the details of her latest book, which is shortly to appear in serialized form in the New Yorker. It tells the story of her brother, who apparently committed suicide decades earlier after being involved in a domestic terrorism bombing which claimed the life of an innocent victim.

Needless to say, her parents, who have become established figures on the Republican scene, are horrified to learn of her plans to bring this sordid incident from their past back to public consciousness. The arguments are soon flowing in fast and furious fashion, leavened by generous doses of sharp humor and ultimately resulting in a dramatic revelation that upends Brooke’s assumptions about what transpired.

Playwright Baitz (The Substance of Fire, A Fair Country)  who in recent years created and shepherded the not dissimilar television series Brothers & Sisters, concentrates more on the domestic than the political aspects of the conflict, with mainly predictable results. And the eventual shift from comedy to melodrama is handled in less than artful fashion.

But he’s also created sympathetic, complex characters who largely defy our expectations, with the result that the play is consistently engrossing nonetheless. The five performers play their roles to perfection, providing superb texture not only to their delivery of the crackling dialogue but also using perfectly modulated body language to excellent effect.

Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, 150 W. 65th St. 212-239-6200. www.lct.org.