THEATER REVIEW:
Production upstages love story

By Lisa Dupuy

Published: Last Updated Wednesday, November 12, 2008 7:29 AM PST

“Mary’s Wedding,” the new play at The Colony Theatre in Burbank, has no gowns, no “Bridezillas” and no family shenanigans, as one might expect.

What it does have is thunderstorms and explosions and a large wooden circular horse, as one might not expect. It is a love story set in the Canadian prairies and European battlefields around the time of the World War I.

“Mary’s Wedding” plays out in a unique blend of dreams, reality, flashbacks and flash-forwards, woven together with impressively smooth transitions. But ultimately, playwright Stephen Massicotte gets bogged down in his contrived style, rendering the play difficult to connect with emotionally.

There is a stark simplicity to the production that focuses all the more attention on the playwright’s words. There are only two actors and a very simple set containing a grassy knoll, the suggestion of a barn or other structure, and a very creative horse. It is actually a large wooden sculpture similar to a cursive, lowercase “a” on its side that turns on a Lazy Susan.

I mention it because it is used liberally throughout the play to great effect. The actors are experts at “riding” it, lying on it as a couch or standing atop it as a ship. In fact, they are excellent at pantomiming much of the action, such as lifting heavy sacks and drinking cups of tea.

The reason for the title “Mary’s Wedding” is because the play starts and ends the night before Mary (the lovely Ashley Bell) is to be married. It chronicles her great love affair with Charlie (Brett Ryback), the dirty country boy, as Mary’s mother calls him. Charlie joins the Canadian Cavalry Brigade and, in alliance with Britain, goes off to fight the Germans in Europe. He writes Mary regularly and sees her in everything.

He befriends Lt. Gordon Muriel Flowerdew (also played by Bell), an actual historical figure, who advises him in matters of love and inspires in him acts of heroism. Ryback is very good as the brave, chivalrous and somewhat innocent Charlie and carries himself as if he were living in the early 1900s.

Bell’s Mary is a wispy, giggly young British lady who can also be fiercely honest and mature when speaking of her love for Charlie. I overheard a number of audience members complain about her swallowing her words, but I found her elocution to be quite clear, if not overly affected.

Besides the actors, the real stars of the show are the sound and lighting designers, Cricket Myers and Jeremy Pivnick. Under David Rose’s capable direction, the interplay of words, sounds (such as thunder and gunfire) and lighting effects (such as lightning) are choreographed to perfection, creating a surprisingly realistic battlefield, storm, tea party or whatever setting they choose.

For those readers who have loved someone deeply and lost them, especially to the ravages of war, “Mary’s Wedding” may speak to you on a deep level. For the rest of us though, while the production was up to the high standards that The Colony Theatre sets for itself, the story was a bit long-winded and lacked the passion of other classic love stories.

LISA DUPUY is a freelance writer from La Crescenta who formerly worked on KCET’s “Storytime.” LISA DUPUY is a freelance writer from La Crescenta who formerly worked on KCET’s “Storytime.”

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