A Perfect Couple

A Perfect Couple
DR2

I went to DR2 last night because the synopsis of the play included a couple who had been in and out of relationship with one another over a period of 15 years and they were now getting married.

I have been in and out of a relationship for 14 years and while I am not getting married I do think about marriage, relationships, singlehood and the like as much as anyone. So, off we went—me and the 14 yearer.

This was whole-heartedly, unabashedly a relationship play, as evidenced by the title. There were four characters in the play, all at different relationship stages (even though two were engaged to one another). If you are unmarried, it was impossible to not leave the theater and think about which character you related to the most and in what way. Personally, I found myself relating a bit to all of them.

The play follows an engaged couple living an hour from the city through a weekend where they host their long-time best friend, punctuated with drop-ins from the recent young college graduate next door. The couple has been together off and on for 15 years and the woman and the friend have been best friends for 20 years.

In the attic, they find a diary written by the man’s step-mother. It records her initial impressions of her step-son with both his current fiancée and, surprisingly enough, with the best friend up from the city. The step-mother thought he was much more compatible with the best friend when she met her on a (until now) semi-secret trip up from the city over 10 years ago.

The friendship is put to the ultimate test as all of this is revealed, as is the couple’s engagement. In talking to the young grad next door, the woman realizes that maybe she wants out of this burdensome relationship and goes home to break it off.

There are many lessons, thoughts, or dialogue points in the play. One of the most striking is the thought that relationships can only be pushed and maintained so far. At the base of them all is an essential ingredient of ease and togetherness that can never really be created unless it is just simply present. It’s something I’ve given a lot of thought to over the years: you either have it or you don’t. And, sometimes, no matter how hard you work, you’ll just never have it. ‘It’ represents that certain, indefinable something that makes it all work. Sometimes we refer to it as chemistry, sometimes compatibility, sometimes as something akin to “elegant machinery.” For me, it’s the piece of luck in the whole equation.

And, what do you do if you can’t find it? I don’t actually know. This is the conundrum that the single friend has possibly found herself in, aside from the easy chemistry she’s had with her best friend’s fiancé. Do you wait? Do you settle for less? Do you fulfill your needs in small ways from many sources, people and places? These are all difficult questions with impossible answers.

This was a good play, although I wouldn’t say it attains must-see status, unless you are really interested in seeking out dialogue on relationships which isn’t actually that prevalent in the theater too much. So, it has something of a unique, earnest status. For my partner and me, we enjoyed it because it spoke to our situation and prompts us to be confident as we move towards what is next for us. Recommended, but not needed unless you are us.