Love is a battlefield in Let’s Love!, Ethan Coen’s trio of darkly funny one-acts at Atlantic Theater Company. Sex can be a weapon, a bargaining chip or a source of solace on a rainy night in these short, piercing vignettes. Similarly, the emotional component is an elusive prize the characters are willing to fight, scheme and strive for. Coen employs the same devilish cynical humor on display in his many films, mostly collaborations with his brother Joel, such as Miller’s Crossing, Fargo, No Country for Old Men, and A Serious Man. But there are also hints of romance and joy amid the bleakness and potential violence. It’s a delightfully droll and satisfying evening, blistering and comforting at the same time, directed with a deft hand by Neil Pepe who balances the sharp bite of satire with sweet sentiment.

The main piece of the three vignettes is an extended farce involving an ever-shifting series of love triangles. It’s a combination of the snark of Coen’s complex screenplays and the rollicking revolving romances of La Ronde. Aubrey Plaza, famous for playing wickedly nasty yet secretly vulnerable characters on the TV series Parks and Recreations and Agatha All Along, rips into the role of Susan, a vengeful virago out to get retribution on her soft-hearted ex Dan (comically gooey-centered CJ Wilson). She claims all she wants in a good roll in the hay, but she really longs for affection. Susan plots to retaliate against Dan for leaving her by hiring a thug to beat him up. But its turn out the hired muscle, known simply as Tough, has feelings too. Chris Bauer is hilariously deadpan as the surprisingly sensitive hit man. Add in Dan’s current girlfriend Faye (sly Mary Wiseman), who is just as manipulative and duplicitous as Susan, and Howie (goofily endearing Noah Robbins), a blind date for Susan who also has his own secret perversions, and you get a wild ride through the minefields of relationships.

This highlight is bracketed by two shorter works of varying quality. The evening opens with a pair of alternating interior monologues between a been-around-the-block Broad (yes, that is how she is identified in the cast list) and a lonely businessman, refers to as The Man. It’s a rainy night in a deserted bar on Second Avenue. In isolated spotlights, the two patrons spill out their life stories and desperate need for connection. Mary McCann and Dion Graham deliver subtle soul-stirring performances of these nighthawks.

The last piece comes across as a kind of one-joke afterthought. The Boy (Robbins again, just as adorable) overcomes his insecurities to form a bond after a disastrous first blind date with The Girl (equally tender Dylan Gelula). This piece is a slight doodle with one low-grade big laugh involving food poisoning and a stuffed panda. The three playlets are punctuated by brilliantly sung love standards and originals sung by the accomplished and endearing Nellie McKay whose light, child-like voice reminded me of the legendary Blossom Dearie. The last piece is slight, but fortunately, McKay and the entire cast bring the tone back up with a delightful musical finale. Riccardo Hernandez’s versatile sets convey multiple locales with efficiency while Reza Behjat’s lighting provide the appropriate mood, dark and depressed to warm and cosy. Peggy Schnitzer’s costumes perfectly each character, denoting their attitudes towards love and themselves. Let’s Love! scores two out of three, which ain’t bad.

Let’s Love! Oct. 15—Nov. 22. Atlantic Theater Company at the Linda Gross Theater, 336 W. 20th St., NYC. Running time: 90 mins. with no intermission. atlantictheater.org.