By LAWSON TAITTE / The Dallas Morning News

RICHARDSON -- Comedy artists frequently write evening-length shows, but generally they can be called plays only as a courtesy title. That's not true of My Cousin's Wedding. This is a genuine romantic comedy -- and a darned good one at that.

Maribeth Monroe and Kirk Hanley wrote the piece for Second City Theatricals and are performing it in a weeklong stand that began Tuesday at Richardson's Eisemann Center for Performing Arts. Nancy Hayden directed the show, which has been touring since June.

Second City, for those who have been hibernating the last 45 years, is the seminal Chicago company that hatched improv-comedy greats from Mike Nichols and Elaine May to Tina Fey and Mike Myers. The classic Nichols and May scripts, for instance, were certainly of sufficient merit to be called literature. But they were still satirical skits -- not plays.

My Cousin's Wedding, on the other hand, gives us rounded and interesting characters in a continuous action lasting more than 80 minutes. Mike and Meg, who've been living together for two years, receive an invitation to her cousin Cheryl's wedding. Since Mike and Meg are ambivalent about the issue of marriage for themselves, the prospective ceremony raises some issues.

The play moves back and forth between two timelines. In the initial scene, Meg is nagging Mike to ask for directions to the church, although he's sure he can find it. We watch the two of them crowd into a pew (late), get into a spat during the wedding vows, go through the reception line and sit at a remote table while everybody else at the reception gets fed before they do.

In the alternating scenes, we watch the events of the preceding weeks. Mike and Meg shop for a present, attend a couples shower and go to the bachelor and bachelorette parties. Each situation reveals their hidden fears. Meg worries that steady, sane Mike isn't romantic or adventurous enough for her. Mike worries that Meg doesn't really love him anymore.

Mr. Hanley's Mike, a hulk of a guy, frowns gruffly but is light on his feet. Ms. Monroe's Meg looks chic, but her angular body semaphores her comic intentions to the audience.

Both performers are so offhandedly funny that you wonder what these characters do for a living -- standup comedy, maybe? The thing is, they can also simmer down into serious scenes of anger, frustration and affection. The laughter keeps My Cousin's Wedding fun. But the touching moments are what you remember as you leave the theater.

My Cousin's Wedding, presented by the Eisemann Center for Performing Arts, 2351 Performance Drive, Richardson, Thursday through Saturday. Runs 80 min. Tickets $24 to $28. Call 972-744-4650, or go to www.eisemanncenter.com.