By Jennifer and Craig Mustoe
Mary, Mary by Jean Kerre is one of the longest running non-musical productions on Broadway. There is a great reason for this. Though it was originally produced in the 60s, it is as prevalent, current and amusing now as then. The Covey’s current offering, directed by Barta Heiner, is fun, insightful, sweet and delightful.
It is being produced in the Brinton Black Box Theater upstairs—a darling, intimate space that makes you feel almost a part of the actual story. The set for Mary, Mary, set decoration by Dan James, is amazing with details that will take you back to the early 60s (if you’re old enough to remember that. Think of The Help and Saving Mr. Banks.) This combined with the spot on costuming by Lisa Kuhni take you back to that time in a fantastically reminiscent way. What stays with me is the colors painted in the experience—in the costumes and the set.
The story is Mary (Becca Ingram) and Bob (Adam Argyle) were married and after five years divorced. Bob is engaged to Tiffany (Taylor Fonbuena), a much younger woman with very organic ideas about food. She insists on drinking a yeast concoction and eats dried apricots, a running joke in the show. (Mary says the apricots look like ears. She makes a good and funny point.) Tiffany has family money and talks about “Daddy” often. Fine actor Reese Purser plays Oscar, Bob and Mary’s lawyer, and asks Mary to come over to the apartment to talk over some checks that are keeping Bob from being able to pay less taxes. From the beginning, we suspect that (name of lawyer) wants Bob and Mary to reunite. I loved Purser and wished he had been onstage more often.
Mary arrives, looking marvelous after numerous trips to Elizabeth Arden. Oscar is complimentary and Bob is clearly disconcerted by Mary’s transformation. Mary has confidence about her changed look but reveals rather quickly that it may or may not be superficial. She expresses that she may very well still be the mousy wife she believes Bob saw her to be.
Enter Eric Raemakers as actor cum author Dirk Nelson. Though I got the impression Dirk was supposed to be a dissipated womanizer, Raemakers with his remarkably handsome, fresh face and likeable characterization is really convincing and definitely provides the needed impetus to make Bob jealous and consider that letting Mary go was a mistake.
Becca Ingram is, in a word, phenomenal. Every one of the small, tight cast sparkle with Kerr’s amazing script. There wasn’t a clunker in the bunch. I particularly liked Reese Purser.
The fun of live theater is seeing actors react to what’s happening in the moment. Oscar started coughing and Argyle jumped to the rescue with a glass of water. Bravo! This is what I love about live theater. Argyle is naturally quick on his feet. When not onstage as the fine actor he is, he’s a master stage fight choreographer/director. Fonbuena is graceful and funny as the quirky Tiffany.
My only issue was the fumbling in a few lines, but Craig said not only did he like that, it seemed very realistic and he wasn’t sure it wasn’t scripted, it was so natural. His only issue was the music that accompanied it wasn’t authentic early 60s. He is a music nut and is pretty precise about authenticity. I didn’t care one fig about that at all. I enjoyed it.
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All in all, Mary, Mary is highly watchable and we both recommend it 100%.
Mary, Mary
The Covey Center for the Arts, Brinton Black Box Theater
425 West Center St, Provo 801-852-7007 $12-$14
Thurs-Sat February 27-March 21st, 7:30 PM
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