It’s “Kindness” you have been looking for, but you live the play under the continuous threat of a blood-spattered ending that shadows the more or less loose bonds between the characters of Adam Rapp’s dark comedy, which debuted on Monday night at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater at the Playwrights Horizons.

A hammer hangs over the skull of yet another cancer victim and the revolting fantasy belongs to none other than her own son, whose mom has become a burden to him.

She wears a wig, needs a cane to walk and takes dozens of pills that are meant to ease her pain. But she won’t give up, as he lets his imagination run riot.

The Illinois mother, Maryanne, played by Annette O’Toole, and her 17-year-old lad, Dennis (Christopher Denham), make a short trip to Manhattan to spend some time together while they still can and escape the pressure created by Dennis’ father, who has turned into a gambling addict.

Although Maryanne has bought a couple of tickets to a Broadway musical she can’t wait to see (a “Rent”-like play named “Survivin"), her son would rather spend all night in the hotel room and watch porn movies than accompany his mom.

“Sometimes I wish you would just die and get it over with,” Dennis lets drop brutally, while his mother looks at him helplessly.

Maryanne eventually goes to see the performance along with Herman (Ray Anthony Thomas), a black cab driver she befriends.

In the meantime, Frances (Katherine Waterson) pops into Dennis’ hotel room while he’s out taking a glass of something and they start to chat.

Frances sooner or later draws out from Dennis a disconcerting admission, while she offers her own. However, these disclosures appear to be mere tricks created to spice up the play rather than present a poignant scene of honesty.

Adam Rapp has a special technique of producing and preserving tension that makes viewers feel like cats on a hot tin roof. Nevertheless, he knows how to add hilarity without ruining the thrust, making the play seem both amusing and troubling.