cover art by Carol Spence
“Go see this play…. This is the kind of play that could change your life. …I loved this play.
…here's something I really like: art that is serious and sincere and tries to tell us something true and reform us and make us whole. That is what I liked about this play. Maybe that doesn't matter to you. Maybe what you'll like about this show is that it's cleverly structured and theatrically innovative. Maybe you'll like that it's really funny. …what had me blinking back tears and jumping from my seat at the show's end was that it tried so hard to tell me—simply, directly, honestly—something important.
The dialogue is wickedly clever, mixing realist conversation with baldly generalized substitutions and vocalizations of private thoughts, which critically expose the characters' intentions, hypocrisies and insincerities. It mixes over-the-top silliness with bitingly smart observations about marriage and other social constructs. The jokes are sharp…”
Eric Delp, Herald (Bradenton FL)
“Bonbon adjectives and fizzy
feelings come into play when contemplating David Wiltse's A MARRIAGE MINUET,
including words that haven't been used in reviews for awhile, like `delightful’.
…
The play's outline is as old as French farce…. But Wiltse's approach is
ultimately modern, powered by a glib style that skips over the tedium of small
talk and goes straight to the snappy lines, epigrammatic observations and
libidinous foolishness. If some of the technique and stylings evoke writers such
as David Ives, Woody Allen, Elaine May, and Jules Feiffer, well, it's not such
bad company to emulate….”
Frank Rizzo, Variety
“The mark of a good (or even
great) playwright is the ability to write in many genres. Will Shakespeare, who
wrote the deep tragedies of KING LEAR and ROMEO AND JULIET also wrote the
slapstick farces THE COMEDY OF ERRORS and A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM. Even Neil
Simon, today's undisputed laugh master, has leavened his work with many serious
moments. Now David Wiltse, who authored last season's powerful THE GOOD GERMAN,
has stepped up with a change of pace with A MARRIAGE MINUET…. Whether dealing
with comedy or tragedy, Mr Wiltse is a master of words, and he uses them to
create bright, brilliant, brittle epigrams that elicit strong and consistent
audience laughter. An obvious admirer of Oscar Wilde, Wiltse writes in a style
that not only does justice to him, but also to Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley
and Phillip Sheridan as well. Wiltse is a keen observer of humanity, and as
such, he cannot help but develop a certain cynicism and an acerbic wit. MINUET
is a study of the realities and the illusions of marriage, love, the mating game
and sex. It states that morality is an illusion, a self-deception, and that all
of us are buffeted by the winds of time and victims of opportunity….”
Jerry Layton, Curtain Calls
“Romantic comedies don't get
any more clever than David Wiltse's new A MARRIAGE MINUET….”
Jack Zink, Sun-Sentinel (Florida)
originally produced by Florida Stage
2 M, 3 F
I S B N: 0-88145-342-0, $12.95