Arts & Entertainment

Straight Playwright Tackles Gay Marriage

Grace Wessbecher's 25th play, "Welcome to Canada!," gets a reading in Morris Township.

Some might think it strange that a heterosexual woman champions gay marriage in a play. 

Not Grace Wessbecher.

"I am a playwright," she said. "I write about many subjects." 

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Act One of the Parsippany resident's newest work, "Welcome to Canada!," was read at the on Monday. Act Two will get a reading July 25. 

The play covers the subject of marriage in one of the first countries to treat gay and lesbian people equally under law. The play, however, is about much more than the institution of marriage.

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"The play is really about finding love, and [about] the differences between Canada and the United States," said Wessbecher. "Canada passed marriage equality in 2005. Meanwhile, six years later, in the United States, marriage discrimination has been written into several state constitutions. How can the United States lag behind on civil rights?"

Wessbecher makes no bones about her support for equality.

"Marriage equality does not affect me personally, but I do believe in civil rights and was raised to stand up against discrimination," she said.

The writer grew up in Parsippany. Her family moved here in the 1970s.

Writing has been a passion of Wessbecher's for years. She majored in English as a college student and received a master's in fine arts degree from Hollins University in Roanoke, Va.  "Welcome to Canada!" is her 25th play and her 25th production.

"I have written about a dozen full-length plays and just as many one acts. I also write screenplays and am starting to write YA (juvenile fiction) books," she said. "I have enjoyed 25 productions, from concert readings to full productions [and] have had shows produced as far away as Tulsa, Okla., and Washington, D.C.  Each show is a privilege."

Most of the time, Wessbecher said, she writes about whatever topic interests her and piques her curiosity enough "to make me sit at a computer and write."

"Writing anything takes a long time. The subject has to sustain the interest," she explained.

Curiosity got the better of the playwright in 2005, when the Canadian Civil Marriage Law passed and she made her first Canadian friend, Boyd Reynolds of Vancouver. 

"We met while attending graduate school in 2005. We are both baseball and hockey fans and a strong friendship developed," she said. "I had never met a Canadian on that level before. He writes middle-grade books, and we are writing a hockey-themed YA book together."

At the same time, the notion that Canada would best its neighbor to the south on such a basic issue as legal equality for all fascinated Wessbecher, who started reading everything she could on the subject.

During her reading, she discovered two things: "Canada appears far more accepting as a nation, and its government takes better care of its citizens," she said, noting that even with marriage equality, being gay is no easier in the Great White North.

Eventually, "Welcome to Canada!" appeared. The play is set right after the passage of the Civil Marriage Law. Boston travel agent Pat Rogers moves to Vancouver to marry. Along the way, Pat deals with baseball, Babe Ruth, Princess Diana, national anthems and Girl Scout cookies. 

"It is a very involved play," she said. "If the audience can find themselves rooting for Pat Rogers to find love and marriage, the play will have succeeded."

When Act One was staged at the Unitarian Fellowship, "[It] went really well despite the hot weather," Wessebecher reported. "[There was a] good mix of crowd."

Act Two gets the same treatment—including a discussion after the performance—on July 25. 

Getting to the point of holding a reading took some doing. 

"The play lost many contests since [it was written] back in 2005. It was ahead of its time," Wessbecher recalled. "But I still believed in the play. Finally I received positive feedback from one artistic director.  It encouraged me to strike out on my own. I had never produced a show before, mainly because rehearsal space and theater rental are so expensive. So I surfed, discovered the Gay Activist Alliance of Morris County, emailed them about a possible reading, and they responded within an hour. They have been incredibly kind and supportive throughout this entire process."

Originally, "Welcome to Canada!" focused on the story of two men planning to marry. 

"An actress, Rickie Beth Friedberg, auditioned and just fit the role of Pat Rogers perfectly, so I rewrote it for two women marrying. Now I have both versions to market. I also added a new character. This is the real advantage of having the playwright attend rehearsals. Writers can change lines to fit the actors. Directors cannot," Wessbecher said.

Once this performance is over, the playwright said she is open to any possibilities that may appear for "Welcome to Canada!." She is on the hunt for a literary agent to help with the process.

In the meantime, Wessbecher has plenty to do in the immediate future. Her play "An Act of Will" is scheduled for a main stage production in November at Dover Little Theater in Dover. She also will teach a class in Dramatic Writing at the Morris Hills School of Adult and Continuing Education this fall "if enough people sign up." 

The Gay Activist Alliance of Morris County presents a reading of Act Two of Grace Wessbecher's "Welcome to Canada!" at the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship in Morris Township July 25 at 7:30 p.m. A $6 donation is requested. For information, call 973-285-1595.


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