It's not often that Kumu Kahua Theatre produces a play that is simply cute.

Dedicated to promoting plays by local playwrights about life in Hawai'i, its productions typically deal with serious issues and even its occasional comedy usually has a gritty edge. So it's a refreshing change of pace to find a playful romance filling a Dark Night slot in the Kumu schedule.

"The Art of Preservation," by Susan Soon He Stanton, is a short, one-act, two-character comedy that doesn't push too hard or probe too deeply, but introduces us to a couple of young people who turn out to be disarmingly charming. A light touch by director Troy Apostol and actors Ginger Gohier and Tyler Tanabe keeps the evening working well.

It all happens on a dark and stormy night in the basement of a Kaua'i library. A flood is imminent and Desiree, a dedicated librarian wearing latex gloves and a surgical mask, is archiving a collection of 100-year-old documents recently rescued from the attic of an old house.

Entering unnoticed and carrying a bouquet of red ginger, Dado, a self-employed contractor, quietly tiptoes up and kisses her on the neck. Desiree whirls around, they recognize each other, and both scream. That attention-grabbing opening pantomime is followed up by some neatly-crafted dialogue.

"The library is closed! Did you break in?"

"Of course not! The window was unlocked."

It turns out that Dado has mistaken Desiree for his girlfriend — who is on a date with another man. But he stays around to badger Desiree for information and, ultimately, to reminisce about their shared childhood. It turns out Desiree had a serious crush that Dado didn't notice or return.

Romantics will immediately recognize that these two must end up together. How they get there is the substance of Stanton's 45-minute character study. To validate the play's title, there is a subplot debate over whether written documentation or taking care of people is the best way to perpetuate a culture.

There are flashbacks to show us the characters' shared history, which sometimes come dangerously close to lumbering exposition in which characters repeat things for the audience that both of them already know. It also suggests that — eight years after high school — both still carry issues they haven't worked through. And there is a choreographed dream sequence in which dance steps and clever use of a plastic tarp reveal the characters' inner feelings.

But for all its success at creating character, "The Art of Preservation" ultimately resonates as a writing exercise that ends before those characters begin to do something. If there were an Act 2, we might actually meet other strong personalities that are only talked about — Dado's girlfriend and the mother of his 8-year-old son, and her new beau, an older guy intent on developing some pristine mountain property.

But then, it might be a different, heavier play. And the Kumu Kahua summer audience seems content that Desiree and Dado will find fulfillment — for the moment, at least — as he whisks her away from the library in his leaky pickup truck.

Joe Rozmiarek has reviewed theater performances in Hawai'i since 1973.