Founded in 2009 by a dozen graduates from Cal State Fullerton, the Coeurage Theatre Company embodies the spirit of kids-putting-on-a-show with masterful comic timing and lyricism. FAILURE: A LOVE STORY, by Philip Dawkins, was originally produced by the company in 2015, and is now back on the boards in an energetic revival directed by Michael Matthews at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. (The inaugural play in Center Theatre Group’s new “Block Party” series.)

Set in the 1920s, this Theater of the Absurd-meets-vaudeville tells the story of the Fail family, owners of a Chicago watch and clock emporium and all manner of idiosyncratic behaviors. But as is made clear very early in the show, the source of their livelihood—the measurement of time—ends up leaving most of them with very little of it. In the hands of this deft ensemble, the echoes of loss and regret are never drowned out by the audience’s nearly continuous laughter.

(The showstopper “Johnny Weismuller” was written by Coeurage’s resident composer and music director Gregory Nabours, with lyrics by Dawkins.)

 

FAILURE: A LOVE STORY, through April 23.

KIRK DOUGLAS THEATRE, 9820 Washington Boulevard, Culver City.

centertheatregroup.org/tickets/kirk-douglas-theatre/2016-17/block-party/

coeurage.org

gregorynabours.com

Nicole Shalhoub and Denver Milord (foreground), and Gina Torrecilla, Cristina Gerla, Brittney S. Wheeler, and Kurt Quinn (left to right, background) in the Coeurage Theatre production of Failure: A Love Story.
Photograph by Craig Schwartz.
© 2017 Craig Schwartz