War Bride: Mary’s Wedding

Written by Stephen Massicotte
Presented by Echo Theatre Company

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: A beautiful, innocent young maiden meets a handsome and gentle young farm boy and in short order, they fall in love. Alas, war breaks out and despite the maiden’s protest, the valiant farm boy feels the call to duty and goes off to war. He writes her letters from the frontlines and plans to ask for her hand in marriage when he returns from battle. And from there, to paraphrase Leonard Maltin, if you can’t guess what happens, get a new hobby.

Yes, the fate of the war-torn lovers in “Mary’s Wedding” is almost as obvious as the fate of Henry Moss in Sam Shepard’s “The Late Henry Moss,” another play that opened last weekend that was very well produced but could not compensate for a script that simply didn’t work. The titular Mary and the object of her affection, Charlie, are every bit as sweet and pleasant to be around as Shepard’s Moss family is shrill and off-putting. And, that is part of the problem. Written in 2002 and set in Canada during and after the First World War, “Mary’s Wedding” is an old fashion love story that seems allergic to complexity. It gives you two sweet and innocent characters, while (obviously) setting you up for an inevitable, jury-rigged tragedy.

Magan Wiles, doe-eyed and lithe with that ethereal lilt in her voice pairs well with the aggressively earnest Ben Nordstrom. Truly, they seem tailor-made to play the almost impossibly perfect couple. Both actors are undeniably appealing, but I think it says something about the simplicity of the central love story that the relationship between Charlie and his military commander, Sergeant Flowerdew (also played by Wiles, in perhaps the play’s only departure from convention) is so much more compelling than the relationship between Charlie and Mary. Wiles and Nordstrom do a solid job, especially considering how much time they have to spend essentially telling the audience what is happening, but try as they might, they are weight down by Stephen Massicotte’s script.

Dominque Gallo’s lighting and Kelly Kerr’s sound design create sharply etched impressions of thunderstorms and bombardments. Tim Daly’s rural set is charming and functional. Director Eric Little has mounted an almost flawless production, the only flaw of which may be his choice of material. This may in fact be the best production of a play that I’ve ever absolutely hated.

When the house lights came up at the end of 90 minutes, several audience members were crying. I’m not made of wood, but I refuse to be taken in by a manipulative play that is not worth my tears.

“Mary’s Wedding” runs through April 20th. For more information: www.echotheatrecompany.org

David Noble Dandridge can be reached at: radiclwraith-theatre@yahoo.com