YOUNGSTOWN — Love is a many-faceted thing in John Cariani’s “Love / Sick,” and Youngstown Playhouse’s production features a multi-talented cast.

There are some callbacks and through lines, but “Love / Sick” essentially is nine mini-plays, a series of vignettes focusing on couples at different stages in their relationships.

It can be performed with as few as four actors playing the 18 characters, but with the skill shown by the ensemble director Rosalyn Blystone has assembled, it’s no wonder she chose to go with 18 performers and no double casting.

The stories range from broadly comedic to more dramatic. Through no fault of the cast, the funnier sketches work best. It’s easier to appreciate a high-concept, clever idea that is well-executed than to get thrown into the middle of a couple’s fracturing bond and expect to deliver an epiphany in less than 10 minutes.

Paul Dahman and Makenna Liller get the play off to a strong start with “Obsessive Impulsive,” a tale of two people who have trouble controlling their impulses. They immediately kiss upon seeing each other at The Super Center and then debate pleasures and pitfalls of love at first sight. A significant chunk of their dialogue is rapid fire and delivered in unison, an impressive feat pulled off by the performers and the director.

“Singing Telegram” with David Leach and Rhonda Dam follows, and the audience soon realizes the stories won’t all be as wonderfully wacky as the opener. It becomes obvious pretty quickly what the twist is going to be in this scene, but Leach’s animated performance delivers the laughs and Dam’s ultimate reaction is heartbreaking. It’s one of several examples where Blystone is able to allow the laughs and the pathos live in the same scene and let each one complement the other.

The fourth scene, “The Answer,” with Sydney Campbell and Adam Dominick, pulls off that same balancing act.

There’s broad humor — a groom with cold feet insists on wearing blindfolds (his with a tie, hers with toilet paper) so as not to jinx the union by seeing the bride before she walks down the aisle — but it doesn’t undercut the impact of two people who are having second thoughts about saying “I do.”

Another standout is “Uh-Oh” with Rachael Conrad as a woman willing to go to extreme measures to get rid of the boredom she fears has settled into her marriage with her spouse (Nailah Thomas).

Cariani’s script is written to span gay and straight couples, and Blystone expands on that diversity with her casting, emphasizing the message that the trials and triumphs of relationships transcend race, gender and orientation.

There isn’t a weak link in the cast, which also features Kage Jonas Coven, Eric McCrea, Liz Conrad, Jason A. Green, Brian Suchora, Tricia Terlesky, Jenna Cintavey, Brenda Zyvith, Aaron Newell and Blystone.

The actors do double duty as the on-stage crew. The transitions between stories happen quickly and keep the pacing tight for a show that runs a little more than 90 minutes with no intermission.

The first three performances were sold out before the lights went down for opening night, and it’s likely after the word-of-mouth from opening weekend that next weekend’s tickets won’t last long.

agray@tribtoday.com