One Good Marriage

Tamara Jones is a former production operations supervisor in the
Entertainment Department of Paramount Canada’s Wonderland.

In a two-character play that effectively combines pathos and humour,
Steph and Stewart struggle to explain to their audience the
circumstances leading to their first wedding anniversary. The
celebratory banner collapsing behind them hints at the tragedy to be
revealed.

“Everybody died. Everybody’s dead.” The play then begins, and
slowly and artfully the playwright fills in the missing details. With
the fourth wall removed, Steph and Stewart, an English teacher and
high-school librarian, respectively, recount their tragic tale—a tale
involving the loss of their community of family, friends, and
co-workers.

“We have too many holidays,” says Stewart, to which Steph replies,
“Too many ‘special days’…. We are alone—him and me. Me and
him.” Their public exorcism is delivered through smart, simple,
polished dialogue. As they sketch their lives, the present unfolds and
gradually they achieve for themselves the closure that was previously
denied them.

One Good Marriage is the kind of play that yields deeper meanings with
each successive reading. Well worth reading, it is definitely worth
performing.