Back when it premiered in the middle of Lockdown Summer 2020, “Ted Lasso” felt like something more than a welcome distraction. Its unapologetic, earnest, insistent optimism seemed important somehow, like buying into its sunny view of the world was an act of resistance in dark times.

Now it’s five years later, that much farther down the dark path. And my wife’s unapologetic, earnest, insistent optimism delivered its own little act of resistance. “It’s a Love Story,” her improvised romantic comedy, was the second production by our friend Willem Van Den Brink (my own show, “As Seen on TV,” was the first). Like mine, “It’s a Love Story” was a full-length unscripted genre play, or “narrative longform” in improv lingo. Unlike mine, it was a big cuddly hug from first rehearsal to final bow.