Love Negotiated, despite what you might be thinking, is not about a 3 a.m. transaction on El Cajon Boulevard.

Nope. It’s Kevin Six’s amusing two-act take on our postmodern tendency to want everything in writing, to codify love in all its manifestations. Among the eight characters, four of whom are lawyers, prenuptial agreements are just starting points. There are no-nups, post-nups and whatever-nups. It all spawns the logical question one of the group asks, upon hearing that a couple helped one another draw up such papers: “Did they bill each other?

Mark Biagi and Jennie Olson

^{Photo Courtesy of Kathleen Masse}

Richard and Veronica, the central couple, have hooked up after their divorces. They’re in lust and maybe in love but wary of marriage, so they’re attempting to conduct their relationship according to a written “no-nuptial” agreement. But they bicker over the rules, sections and paragraphs, and Rich isn’t even sure whether the document has 62 or 67 pages.

They host a party celebrating the engagement of two friends, and the four other guests include both of their previous spouses, with whom Rich and Ronnie had amicable partings. As usual in these situations, everyone drinks too much — the party punch, says one imbiber, “has truth serum” — which leads to much telling of old secrets and some trolling for new romances. All the revelations, plus the excess of lawyerly advice, prove too much for the betrothed couple, and the engagement founders.

But fear not. After considerable stewing and wooing — during which Rich succinctly sums it up: “We’re all operating under a different definition of love” — everyone ends properly paired. And maybe even — with correctly drawn-up documents — happy ever after.

Don’t expect major insights. Six’s characters, however, do offer some lesser ones, like Ronnie’s observation that “Dancing and drinking were invented for sex” or Rich’s philosophy: “Truth is better than lying. You have to remember less.” And Six’s script cleverly milks a gag about how obvious a couple’s surreptitious kiss was.

The acting is spotty, and director D.J. Sullivan has allowed some overplaying and extra mugging by Mark Biagi (Richard) and Jennie Olson (Veronica) — otherwise best of show — but everyone in the cast gets a Big Moment, when they are literally spotlighted, and they all handle theirs well. Sullivan also gives fluidity to the script’s frequent quick transitions from character to character.

One unseen star of the evening is Marie Miller, whose lighting design includes split-second cues and hits the mark every time. Sheila Rosen’s street-clothes costumes fit the bill. Charles Wallace’s set? Well, let’s just say it reflects the show’s low budget. If it’s the living room of two capable lawyers, they must be doing a lot of pro bono work.

Six’s sound design consists largely of snippets of well-chosen intro songs that cover, like the script, various facets of love — a variety ranging from “Love and Marriage” to “Let’s Get It On” to “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad.” That doorbell buzzer, however, should be a few decibels lower.

Cast and credits