The Peterborough Theatre Guild’s fall season is in full swing, but it certainly hit a high point with its production of Mary’s Wedding. With the guild’s first slate comprising Ben Muir’s How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse and Marni Walsh’s Ghost Story completed, the play from Canadian playwright Stephen Massicotte is being brought to life by frequent Guild director Jane Werger and a small cast of seasoned talent. 

The third of seven planned productions for the 2024–2025 season, Mary’s Wedding is a historical romance set during the First World War. The play chronicles the development of the titular Mary’s first romance in a non-linear fashion, beginning on the eve of her wedding in 1920. Canada’s complex relationship with the Great War serves as background as the narrative explores this romance in key moments like Mary’s first encounter with farmhand Charlie, their blossoming romance, and his departure to serve in the War.

 Arthur had the pleasure to attend this production’s dress rehearsal on the evening of October 23rd at the Guild’s Theatre in East City. The invitational rehearsal was well-attended by theatre-going community members. 

Starting on October 25th, the Guild will play host to the ghosts of the First World War, as its run of Mary’s Wedding kicks off just before Remembrance Day. This was the goal of director Jane Werger, who wanted to direct a Canadian play after directing Arthur Miller’s The Crucible last January. In selecting this play, Werger felt drawn to Stephen Massicotte’s explicitly anti-war bent and the tumultuous romance between Mary and Charlie. 

“I thought that [Mary’s Wedding] was good, and especially now with so many wars going on, and it just seemed to me, we need to play where people start realizing, even if for a little while in the room, that war is stupid,” Werger explained. 

Mary’s Wedding stars only two actors, showcasing Toronto playwright/actor Justine Christensen and local actor Eddy Sweeney. Their stage presence, however, is all the more commanding, as the play is unusual in its lack of intermission and its two-person cast. The dynamic physicality and technicality of this production make up for it, allowing the players to take the audience through this production’s dreamlike, non-linear storyline.

“It’s really more technical and it's actually the first time I've tried projections,” Werger revealed, referencing projections behind the set, which show a scaffold of an old barn with various props for key scenes in Mary’s Wedding. 

Mary’s Wedding begins by gratefully inviting its audience into the dream-realm of Mary’s mind, going beyond its period of the First World War and situating itself in her own perception of the play’s events. To best illustrate the romance between Charlie and Mary, the lines between dreams, memory, and reality are blurred: through random moments of development, we learn how deeply and vulnerably these characters care for each other. 

The play is still tethered, however, to the reality of the Great War, described through Charlie’s letters from the Front and their intervention in certain moments of romance. Mary’s Wedding expertly explores the obligations of each character, and handles those emotionally complex aspects with grace. Charlie and Mary, as a couple, defy the constraints of space and time, bound only by their mutual longing and shared vision of an ideal life, despite their restrictive obligations.

Regardless of its physical limitations, Mary’s Wedding puts its duo to work, with its characters riding horses through Canadian fields, being shot at by Germans during the Battle of Moreuil Wood, and escaping thunderstorms in the old barn where Mary and Charlie’s romance begins. 

“I've not done anything nearly to this of this scale,” co-star Eddy Sweeney told Arthur. “I knew that would be a challenge for me as an actor.”

“It is a 90 minute show, only two actors, and neither of us leave the stage. It is exhausting,” Sweeney laughed. “You can't do anything else except act for 90 minutes, and it’s hard!’ 

Charlie is the most challenging character Sweeney has portrayed, as he connects with the farmhand and the vulnerability he displays over the play’s duration. 

“It’s easier the more the character is different from myself, yes, but when I’m up there, sometimes it feels like it's just me.” Sweeney admitted. 

Justine Christensen connects with Mary in a much similar fashion.

“These characters are having universal experiences,” Christensen explained. “People like people falling in love, people going through fears for the future, especially knowing that something traumatic could happen soon.”

“All of that is very relatable, even through the ages,” she said. 

Christensen also shares the same sentiment of her co-star, illustrating the emotional toll that playing Mary takes. 

“The characters require a lot of vulnerability to make the story work.” Christensen concluded. “I do feel like there's a lot of relevance to it because it is about the futility of war and the waste of lives.”

“In doing research for the show, I thought about that a lot. There is still relevance to it, and I hope people can reflect on it, despite it being a period piece.” 

In addition to portraying Mary, Christenson also embodies the character of Lieutenant Gordon Muriel Flowerdew, who becomes Charlie's ally in their fight for survival throughout the play. The marvel behind the role of Mary is in this duality, and how Charlie sees her in every person he meets: When Mary shifts into Lt. Flowerdew, Christenson’s facial expressions and body language are so distinct from Mary, retaining her appearance while commanding Charlie to survive throughout the play. 

Regardless of which character was present, the immediate chemistry between Sweeney and Christensen was delightful to watch. Their on-stage relationship had such a playful contrast to the stark subject matter of a WW1 historical piece. Minute physical details, like stealing glances from one another, and the proximal comfort shared between the two actors makes this production of Mary’s Wedding all the more intimate for its audience. 

Mary’s Wedding is a tale of contrasts: As the horrors of war transpite in this play’s foreground, the wonders of first love barely string this couple together through temporal and spatial limitation. It is a heartfelt, careful rendering of history, and its emotional message and themes are haunting in their relevance to the landscape of today. The physical prowess that this production boasts through Christensen and Sweeney is a force to behold, and you have to see it to believe it. 

Mary’s Wedding opens on October 25 at 7:30pm, with shows running until November 9th. Showtimes and tickets are available on the Peterborough Theatre Guild’s website or at their box office, found at their Guildhall at 364 Rogers St in East City.