What playwright does this make you think of? Four people sit around in a bourgeois domicile and natter anxiously about their lives. Are they unhappy? Yes and no. Do they want to change? Yes and no. Does much of anything happen? Yes and no.

The clear answer is Anton Chekhov, the Russian writer who "raised the portrayal of banality to the level of world literature," in the eyes of novelist James. T. Farrell. But you would also get points if you answered playwright Donald Margulies, who takes inspiration from Chekhov.

"He's sort of my main man," said Margulies, whose play "Time Stands Still" opens Friday at the Guthrie Theater.

Margulies won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for "Dinner With Friends," which critic Peter Marks noted uses "the most shopworn of subjects" and is set in a "comfortably banal Connecticut [suburb]."

Simply put, Margulies enjoys the challenge of elevating individual quandaries into universal truths -- all in the context of a parlor conversation with surprisingly high stakes.

"That's the challenge of writing naturalistically, to make it seem as if the words are organic and in the moment," Margulies said.

"Time Stands Still" was born during a particularly volatile time in the Iraq war, when each morning brought news of another car bombing. Margulies began to ponder the "juxtaposition of my life and what was happening half a world away."

He created a play that revolves around four people in a New York apartment. Sarah and James are freelance journalists returned from covering the war; Richard is Sarah's photo editor, a man who prefers to work in an office; Mandy is Richard's young paramour. Margulies agrees that there is something of the myth of "Hunters vs. Nesters" lying within the subtext. Some people are wired for adventure and risk, while others find their comfort in the equally valid pursuit of repose.

"I am probably most like Richard in this quartet, in that a part of me envies those who are fearless," said Margulies, from the comfort of his own New York desk. "Part of me wishes I could be that selfless and principled to go and witness and comment on the world."

The Guthrie cast, directed by Joe Dowling, consists of Sarah Agnew, Bill McCallum, Mark Benninghofen and Valeri Mudek.

Personal, not political

Margulies does not consider "Time Stands Still" a political play, and he does not use the occasion to get into the machinations and motivations of the Iraq war. His aim is more the tragedy of war -- period -- and how Americans respond to the images that arrive on these shores.

"It's a play about people's place in the world, which makes it political, but I don't have a political agenda," he said. "It's not a searing exposé of the Iraq war."

That's not to say he didn't understand the unique timing of a play written on such a topical theme. He said he knew he had to get the play on stage quickly because it felt so much of the moment. "Time Stands Still," which starred Laura Linney and Eric Bogosian on Broadway, was Tony-nominated for best play in 2010.

By keeping the drama on human terms, Margulies hopes to avoid the caricature of agit- prop theater. In one scene, James launches a tirade against a theater performance he's seen, in which a monologuist bleats about the horrors of the U.S. war machine.

"I do see political theater, and I wonder what purpose is it serving other than coddling its audience," Margulies said. "I don't share the ferocity of James, but because he has been at the war and walked among the people who are being portrayed, he would see that as effrontery."

The response to "Time Stands Still" has left Margulies heartened. But he's been at this playwriting business for 30 years, so he loves all his plays -- none so much as "the last play I finished."

And when he again ventures forth, he hopes to rediscover that Chekhovian sense of unease and crisis that weaves through everyday life.

"I show these people in extremis, which is where good drama comes from," he said.