ANN ARBOR, Mich.–There is a little gem of a production running this weekend (and only this weekend) at Ann Arbor’s Yellow Barn: a two-actor play by Canadian dramatist Stephen Massicotte called Mary’s Wedding.

It begins in 1920 and takes place mostly during World War I and the few months, maybe more, before farmer Charlie Edwards (Joshua Steckelberg) enlists in the army and leaves the love of his life, Mary Chalmers (Anna Marck) behind to, what, exactly? Here is where things get particularly interesting.

Mary stays home in Canada and Charlie goes off to fight in Europe, but they’re not about to be separated by a little thing like the Great War. As we’re told right at the beginning, “Tomorrow is Mary’s wedding, tonight is just a dream.” In Mary’s Wedding present and future, home front and battlefront exist simultaneously with no lines of demarcation save subtle changes in Anita Holsey-Banks’ skillful lighting.

This means that Charlie and Mary are frequently together, talking with no time or space between them. They’re flirting at the same time he’s in the trenches–rural Canada and overseas overlap.

The device could become irksome in less artful hands. Instead, it’s an easy sell, thanks to Karen Sheridan’s fluid direction and its execution by Steckelberg and Marck. Besides admirable depth and range, there’s a physical ease between the two actors whether they’re embracing or pretending to be on horseback.

Marck (besides being the play’s producer) has the added challenge of playing Sergeant (later Leftenant) Flowers, Charlie’s superior. One moment Marck is leading a charge, then, moments later, changing character, she’s in tears.

Stories of courtship, war and separation are nothing new, yet Massicotte’s play offers something original and even, at times, profound and Sheridan’s staging makes the most of it.

Click here for show days, times and details.