Your Chicago Guide’s tickets for two to the press opening of Another Marriage courtesy of Steppenwolf Theatre.
“I had a professor who used to say: “A happy marriage won’t get you past chapter four.””
You meet. You marry. You have kids. That’s the way it always goes. Or is it? What if your story changes? What would it cost? Another Marriage is an intimate and beautifully rendered portrait of an ever-evolving relationship that may never be quite finished. Steppenwolf ensemble member Kate Arrington’s playwriting debut upends time and the typical romantic comedy to explore the liabilities of falling in and out of love. Another Marriage follows a couple from when they meet in college through the complexities of marriage and parenting. Nick and Sunny are both writers, but Nick is from a literary dynasty. Success comes easy to him, and Sunny begins to resent his ascent to fame. It’s implied that their teenage daughter is the one narrating the drama.
In this world premiere, directed by the ever talented Steppenwolf co-founder Terry Kinney, the stellar four-actor cast is anchored by a powerful performance by Judy Greer (as “Sunny”) in her Steppenwolf debut. Equally moving in their roles are ensemble members Ian Barford (“Nick”) and Caroline Neff (“Maccassidy”), as well as Nicole Scimeca (“Jo”), the play’s inner narrator. With no lines until the second act, Scimeca’s “Jo” presides over the set, ticking each moment in time on an iPad. The time periods are also projected above the stage, so audiences can keep track. The play unfolds in roughly chronological order, which means the time markings are especially important for keeping it all straight.
Through Another Marriage, Kate Arrington explores what happens beyond the divorce, beyond what can easily be considered the end of a couple’s journey together. Once she started writing, Arrington said it took a little less than a year to write. In 2019, she did a reading with fellow ensemble members in her apartment before doing an official reading Steppenwolf that fall. Days later, Arrington learned that the theatre wanted to program it.
The stage chemistry sizzles, with impeccable comedic timing between Barford and Greer, and Neff’s awkward earnestness as fan girl become homewrecker. We, the audience, can’t help but laugh, cry and everything in between, alongside carefully and lovingly constructed characters. That emotional investment makes sense when we discover that the play was written about Kate Arlington’s own parents, albeit depicted as her contemporaries. The play’s two hours fly by in a blink, and the cast is truly a dream team that brings so much heart to the story. If you see one play this summer, make it Another Marriage.
Another Marriage is now EXTENDED through July 30th, 2023, at Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted Street, in Chicago’s Clybourn Corridor neighborhood.