Marriage is Murder

by Nick Hall

This past fall and winter we toured the coast with the murderously funny romantic comedy/thriller, Marriage is Murder, by Nick Hall.

Michael and Victoria played ex-spouses and writing partners Paul and Polly Butler (the Butlers did it!), who reunite to write another murder mystery—for the money.  Their writing process involves rehearsing their fictional crimes to test for accuracy.  Old grudges boil to the surface as they work, and who knows when a pretend murder will turn lethal: guns, daggers, an ax, poisoned martinis and chocolates, strangulation by pantyhose—it never stops.

We each had some physically demanding (though hilarious) moments, such Michael’s being stuffed into a trunk with a lemon in his mouth (don’t ask!), and Victoria’s hogtied and gagged trek across the stage on her knees, inch by tortuous inch after throwing herself off a bed.

Basically, we spent the whole play trying to kill each other.  It was a lot of fun, both for us and for our audiences.  Our faithful stage manager/light and sound guy/all around miracle worker, Dale Giottonini, had his hands full keeping track of all the weapons.