By Joy Watters at Perth Theatre

WRITTEN BY young Canadian playwright, Stephen Massicotte, this was the first production in the studio theatre at The Byre, St Andrews 20 months ago. Now the original team is back in a joint production between Perth and the Byre and will tour before arriving at St Andrews in April.

Mary’s Wedding is well-suited to a studio or a larger setting, as the themes are both an intimate love story and the tragedy of war, which in this case transports a young man across the Atlantic to his death.

Massicotte wrote the piece when he was in love and it shows, as it is the heartfelt story of young love between an Alberta farm boy and an English girl living in Canada during the first world war.

The play runs for 90 minutes without an interval and examines both the relationship and the war, focusing on separation and loss.

Massicotte has not created a simple narrative but a fascinating, shifting piece of material, in which threads are interwoven.

A two-hander Christopher Stevenson plays Charlie, the farm boy who volunteers to join the Canadian Cavalry Brigade which played a key role in 1918.

Veronica Leer plays his sweetheart, Mary and also his commanding officer, Flowers.

Charlie sets the scene as the lights go up telling the audience, “Tonight is just a dream, it begins at the end and ends at the beginning.” Mary has lost her Charlie and is to marry another.

The piece tells of her love for Charlie from their first meeting but then it moves backwards and forwards from Canada to the trenches creating meetings that never actually took place.

It is Mary’s deepest regret that she did not wave her sweetheart off but in her dream she can. They can come together where and when they want in this strange other-world.

It is beautifully executed by the two actors and all set against Karen Tennent’s simple yet effective set, atmospherically lit by Simon Wilkinson.

The pair have a sweetness to them that occasionally threatens to go into sentimental overdrive. The only weakness would appear to be the frequent simulated galloping which does not quite work.

Director Rita Henderson has created a touching and challenging production of this deceptively easy-looking work.