Fighting Chance Productions

One Good Marriage by Sean Reycraft

Dates and Venue 19- 24 October 2009, 8pm | Rosedale on Robson Hotel, 838 Hamilton St., Vancouver

Reviewer Ed Farolan


Canadian playwright Reycraft's dark comedy is about Steph (Becky Shrimpton) and Stewart (Jeff McMahan), newlyweds, who return from their honeymoon to see the worst possible site in their hometown. This is the BC Premiere of Reycraft's one-act play which takes place in the town of Saanich, in Vancouver Island. Reycraft is better known for his TV series Degrassi: The Next Generation, and Vampire Diaries.

When the newlyweds return home after their two-week honeymoon, they are greeted with 86 deaths of their relatives and friends. We find out later the cause of their deaths. The play was short and sweet. The venue is appropriate: one of the rented halls of Robson Hotel. There were no fancy lights. The lights of the hall were used in a scene that takes place as the couple celebrate their first anniversary. They talk to each other, and oftentimes, they ramble into monologues which were well acted and well directed by Ryan Mooney. It is a fast-paced 55-minute play where the actors talk about their relatives and friends who attended their wedding and died. Not mysteriously. They were accidental deaths.

This is good timing in this Halloween season to present a play of this nature, from a scriptwriter who delves in themes like vampires. But most importatnly, Mooney has selected a play from a Canadian who is from British Columbia. In his programme notes, Mooney said that he decided to produce this play because it had a good story, and not typical of any other play.

The play was short and bitterly sweet, and the actors had good rapport with the audience, as the ambience was intimate, and meant to have an audience of no more than 40. During the preview night, there were around 30 in the audience. It was well received, and I commend the actors and the staff for something unique and different from the other plays of the repertoire of this company which has successfully produced different genres of play production, from musicals to intimate theatre.

© 2009 Ed Farolan