Playwright Eduardo Pardo may have given his protagonists the intentionally anonymous monikers Ella and El (she and he), but Júrame (Promise Me), starring Elluz Peraza and Eduardo Ibarrola, is anything but generic. Nor is it symbolic.

Pardo, who also produces and directs this Spanish-language one-act, relies on realism and the wildly divergent personalities of his characters to construct a vivid portrait of a 50-something divorced couple who remain in love well after the dissolution of their marriage.

On the heels of a stint at Area Stage's Riviera Theater in Coral Gables, Júrame is now running through July 26 at the MAC Building next to the University of Miami.

Although this staging forgoes an elaborate set for minimalist production values, Ibarrola and Peraza's costumes reveal volumes about this couple who married young, had children, separated and ultimately divorced.

Ibarrola, playing a disheveled man in his 50s, waits impatiently clutching a bouquet of flowers. His tie is askew. His socks don't match, and he's visibly uncomfortable in his ill-fitting jacket as beads of sweat begin to form on his forehead.

In contrast, Peraza is meticulously put together in a linen skirt and jacket with impeccably coordinated jewelry, heels, nail color and lipstick. She playfully attempts to straighten his tie. He mocks (with a hint of adoration) her compulsion for order.

Obviously, the ''opposites attract'' premise can't carry the show for its 1 ½-hour running time. Instead, the script's honesty and the actors' intimate performances give Júrame its appeal.

Peraza, with more than two decades of television experience to her credit, renders a woman who can be just as witty and passionate as she is withholding and sad. Ibarrola's character is boyish and charming in his fecklessness. This experienced duo conjures a dynamic of intimate familiarity, frequently charged with sparks of anger and love, as we witness their attempt to rehash old hurts and somehow draw new conclusions. In retracing the scaffolding of their marriage, they discover that the differences that pushed them apart continue to bind them.

And then there's the ending. This playgoer has not been so happily blindsided in a long time. The surprise twist in the last seconds of Júrame is the pièce de résistance in what would otherwise be an engaging but not earth-shattering evening of theater.

In the world according to Júrame, character flaws are finite, but love is infinite. Pardo, however, is no pushover. The final note of the play implies that although love may never end, separation is equally interminable.

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