Mary's Wedding by Stephen Massicotte

Characters:

Charles Edwards (Charlie)	Falls in love with Mary, Fights and is injured in WWI, loves horses, farm boy
Mary Chalmers	Just moved from England, falls in love with Charlie, reads his letters throughout his battles, will get married tomorrow, also plays Charlie’s Lieutenant, Mary’s mother disapproves of her relationship to Charlie

Time:	July 1920. Play spans two years
Setting:	In the barn, on the battlefield, in the fields
Mode:	Antirealism
Form:	Melodrama

Themes: -      Dream vs. reality -      Storm, rain, and wind are symbolic and occur throughout the play -      The act of remembering, as it is your own bias, of your own story; remembering only certain details. -      love

Plot:

Mary and Charlie meet in a barn, both trying to escape a harsh lightning storm. The play follows them through their dating and their love, which is overpowered by the war that Charlie is fighting. Charlie writes to Mary from the battlefield; Mary reads these letters as if she is there, by his side, helping him. They both vividly remember the day they met, counting out loud, “one-one thousand, two-one thousand” very slowly when they are in trouble, looking for each other in the barn, and reciting poetry. Charlie is injured and Mary prepares for her wedding day.

Quotes:

Mary	Whenever I’m afraid, I just talk to myself. I.i.5
Flowers	Don’t think about her too much. Or you wont be able to see anything else- you’ll see her in everyone, everywhere you look. I.i.12
Mary	We were playing a game. It’s called ‘try not to let your heart fly out of your mouth’ I.i.13

Notes:

The play starts off with a prologue of Charlie’s direct address with the audience, introducing the fact that tonight is a dream. Wishing the audience to continue dreaming. Ends with Mary’s direct address to the audience. Recounts a soldier’s tale as he dreams about the girl he left behind. Timeless story of how no one forgets their first love, even on their wedding day. Hope, dreams, love, war, relationships, ending, marriage are all explored. Interesting to see the aspect of the horses played onstage. Could be a great movie. Our Town combined with The Notebook and Wuthering Heights

Playwright:

Born: 1969 Died: Year Written: 2002

Bio: Canadian playwright who intertwines his life into his plays.  Graduated from the University of Calgary Drama. Mary’s Wedding premiered at Alberta Theatre Projects’ playRites Festival and won the 2000 Alberta Playwriting Competition, the 2002 Betty Mitchell Award for Best New Play, and the 2003 Alberta Literary Award for Drama. http://www.playwrightscanada.com/playwrights/stephen_massicotte.html

Other Work:

	A Farewell to Kings
	The Boy’s Own Jedi Handbook Trilogy
	The Dark- screenplay
	Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning- screenplay
	The Emperor of Atlantis
	The Last Seduction of Casanova
2001	Looking After Eden
2004	Pervert
2006	The Oxford Roof Climber’s Rebellion- moved to Off Broadway in 2007
2009	The Clockmaker