Augustin Daly was a preeminent theater manager, critic, and playwright from the latter part of the 19th Century. He built and opened Daly’s Theater in 1879 after a fire destroyed the company’s original New York home. In 1893, he opened a London theater as well. Of the nearly 100 works credited to his name, nearly all were adaptations. A Marriage Contract, or Grass vs. Granite, was first produced in 1892 based on a German play whose title is loosely translated as “big city atmosphere.” Here the setting was transported from Berlin to New York and was originally called A Test Case, or Grass vs. Granite.
The play opens in the big metropolis and a city slicker rascal named Robert Fleming is attempting to persuade business magnate Jessekiah Pognip to give his blessing for his daughter’s hand in marriage. In today’s vernacular: he’s a “player” and one of a sketchy list of suitors. He is quickly rejected by the father and another man, the bumbling Nathaniel Grinnell, gives it a shot but is too late to the punch. For Ned to marry young Sabina Pognip, there needs to be a marriage contract. Robert is forced to choose between big city excitement (granite) and the teensy country town of East Lemons (grass).
A Marriage Contract is a funny play. Written 125 years ago, it still can elicit laughs through clever wordplay and is firmly planted in situation comedy land. Robert may have taken ill with “influenza provincialis” when the small town boredom of East Lemons and its nosy busybodies become too stifling to bear. Then there is the philandering friend Ned Jessamine (Nick Giedris) who is married to Juno (Jennifer Reddish) who tries not to see “what’s going on.” Will the couples settle down and figure out their relationships? Will country life have any shot of competing with the big city? Will a champagne party cause a scandalous ruckus? Is the maid really called a “saucy minx” for singing while dusting?
Metropolitan Playhouse specializes in plays from America’s literary past and I enjoyed A Marriage Contract. The Director Alex Roe effectively stages the play in their small, intimate space and keeps the action (and clowning) moving along. Amazingly, there is not a whiff of mothballs here, the play is still funny despite its age. Our two suitors were excellent. Trevor St. John-Gilbert (Robert) and Tyler Kent (Nathaniel) inhabited their characters exceptionally well. Both performances are of the period yet come across as freshly contemporary century-old stereotypes energetically painted in three dimensions. With the exception of one cringingly awful performance (in a very minor part), the cast is good. (I saw the third preview). Greatness might be achieved by ratcheting up this broad comedy a notch or two. Overall, A Marriage Contract is a welcome discovery.
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