Mary’s Wedding- Mary’s monologue (pg 10-11) Meg Barbeau

- VERBS over Nouns

- Very poetic
- Repetition of words “…thunder and pound and splash, thunder and splash,”
o Character choice: Mary wanted redemption for missing her opportunity to say goodbye
o Playwright choice: Massicotte wanted the feeling of guilt to linger though her voice,
intentions, and actions.

Uta Hagen’s 9 Questions

1. Who am I?
I am Mary Chalmers. I am 15 years old and I came to Alberta, Canada from London England. I
have blonde hair and blue eyes. I am very young, however, very smart for my age. I live with my
parents in this massive blue house in Alberta.
2. What time is it?
On the eve of Mary’s Wedding, the year is 1920. In her dreams, however, the year is 1913. It is
summer, and it is hot outside, but cool as well because it is just after a rainstorm. It is also night
time, so it is on the cooler side of summer.
3. Where am I?
I am in my own sub conscious at the moment because I am dreaming. In my dream I was in a
barn, then on a horse, and then my mother’s front steps, then in my bed, dreaming within the
dream, and finally down by the sea, watching an ocean liner sail away.
4. What surrounds me?
Long blades of grass, fence posts, bird, trees, a gravel path, a horse, Charlie, the evening air
which turned to wind, the road, filled with puddles from the rainstorm, the distinct smell of after
a rainstorm, the hollow wood of a brown bridge, my mother’s front door, the thirty wet stones
that lead up to it, stairs, a light blue house with a garden in front, then fields and forests, then
the sea, which contains an ocean liner.
5. What are the given circumstances?
In the dream, I am caught in a thunderstorm and I run into the barn for protection. That is
where I met Charlie, and electricity sparks between us. We talk, and talk, and don’t want to
leave, but the rain lights up, and Charlie offers me a ride home, which I sort of refuse, but give in
afterwards anyways.
6. What is my relationship?
Charlie Edwards and I had just met and it was as if fate was kind to me that day and sent me a
blessing.
7. What do I want?
I want to redeem myself for not getting to say goodbye to Charlie.
8. What is in my way?
Charlie is dead.
9. What do I do to get what I want?
 I dream the perfect ending, the way I want it to go.

Character Biography

Physical

Name: Mary Chalmers Centre of Gravity: more or less centre, leaning a little
to the right
Age: 15
Cleanliness: Very
Posture: upright,
Hearing: Hears well
Dialect: British
I.Q.: very intelligent
Eyesight: Perfect
Tempo/Gestures/Movement/Speech: fast talker,
gestures often, mostly when excited or nervous

Personality

Religion: Christian Giving: quite.

Prejudices: Reliability: Quite reliable

Curiosity: The letters written to her by Charlie.
Imagination: wild, yet reflective of her own needs.
Ambition:
Education: well educated
Ability to Reason: quite well
Alertness/Daydreamer: definite day dreamer
Self-Image/Ego: doesn’t have much of an ego.
Jealous/Fear/Pride/Inferiority: she fears for Charlie’s
life at war.
Thoughts about Other Characters: She loves her
parents, that is a given, though she is annoyed that
her parents don’t like Charlie because she is in love
with him.
Other character’s thoughts about her: Charlie is in
love with her. Sees her everywhere he is. Her
parents love her, and think they raised a perfect
daughter.

Environment

Parents/Status: Father- alive. Mother- alive, well,
enjoys tea.
Siblings/Status: N/A
Husband/Wife Status: engaged, to Charlie Edwards
Residence/Status: Lives with her parents
Job/Salary/Social Class: Upper Class
Childhood: She had a nice childhood growing up in
England.
Beats (Objective/Intention/Subtext)

…on the script

Information on Playwright

Stephen Massicotte was born April 18th, 1969, in Alberta, Canada. When he was older, he went to the
University of Calgary. He is best known for writing the play Mary’s Wedding, as well as The Jedi
Handbooks Trilogy.

“So this was going to be a war play. However, I was in love when I wrote it and I thought it was more of
a love to end all loves. This is not that love story but the more I loved her, the more Mary and Charlie
loved each other. The more I longed to return to her, the more they longed to return to each other. So
the war play became a love story. I wrote it to forget her and to get her back and to remember her and
to let her go.” – Stephen Massicotte

Massicotte wrote it with the intention of having it be apart of a Canadian Fringe festival.

- Was holding down three jobs while writing it

o Clerk at a porn video store
o Ticket seller/popcorn vender/projectionist at a movie theatre
o Barista at a café
- Massicotte says, "I've seen 14 or 15 performances, all different, but the audiences have no
trouble imagining that this girl in a nightgown is suddenly a sergeant. It's done mostly with the
voice.”
- Massicotte never got to use "Mary's Wedding" as a fringe vehicle. When he showed his
manuscript around, professional companies wanted to produce it. Before long Massicotte had
quit all three of his jobs to become a full-time writer.
- The basis of this play was of him and his ex-girlfriend.
- Took 5 years to write the play: 3 years to research, 2 years to write/edit