The term “Boston Marriage,” taken from a Henry James novel, refers to two women who live together in an intimate relationship. David Mamet’s play has been described as a cross between The Importance of Being Earnest and Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons). Scandalously witty and devastatingly intimate, the play provides a glimpse into the relationship between two turn-of-the-last-century women, who are devoted to each other even as they involve others in their sexual schemes.
Set in a late Victorian drawing room, Boston Marriage presents Anna and Claire, two “women of fashion,” who behave as if they are wealthy even if funds are short at the moment. When Claire returns after a prolonged absence, she finds Anna has taken up with a married man, who has bestowed upon her a very valuable gift of jewelry and funded her re-designed home interior. When Anna discovers that Claire has amorous designs on a younger woman, Claire asks to use a bedroom in Anna’s house for her seduction of this pretty young girl. As they negotiate the terms, Anna’s hapless Scottish parlor maid, Catherine, takes the brunt of their hostility and eventually becomes a facilitator of their conspiracy. Unfortunately, when Claire’s young crush arrives, everything falls apart and the women must scheme their way back into the good life of pleasure and riches they crave.
This play presented an opportunity to work with a small cast in a streamlined environment with witty language as the primary vehicle for conflict and aggression.
Credits: Scenic Design by Krista Franco, Lighting by Aaron Frank, Costumes by AJ Garcia, Sound by Kathrine Pulling. Stetson University, October 2016.