Lia Marie Talia: Does One Good Marriage mean you have to be a Liar?             

Brian Drader and Sean Reycraft’s recent plays examine the contours of contemporary marriage. Drader’s Liar and Reycraft’s One Good Marriage both explore how tragedy can wrench couples out of the comfort of a stable union into states of confusion and complexity. Through meeting these challenges, the writers suggest, couples can create a stronger bond that defies conventional expectations. This paper explores these staged marriages in relation to the performativity of gender. Liar is a taut, two-act play that explores the theme of lost domestic intimacy. Formerly isolated by their own particular pain, a couple’s life is disrupted by an attractive drifter who becomes the catalyst for their renewed communication. Reycraft’s One Good Marriage is narrated by Stewart, a high school librarian, and Steph, a high school English teacher. Taking place on their first anniversary, the play slowly reveals the details of an incident that forever changed their marriage. Their negotiation of this tragedy reinforces the necessity of maintaining faith in the face of heartbreaking circumstances. The audience becomes a means to help them redefine their marriage and their future.