A VERY MODERN MARRIAGE to Play Hollywood Fringe

The company that brought the award-winning World Premieres It's Important to Leave, As Well and Riot Grrrl Saves the World, returns for their fourth year at the Hollywood Fringe Festival with another truly fresh and groundbreaking World Premiere.

Like an Odd Couple for the modern age, A Very Modern Marriage by Arthur M. Jolly offers a whole new take on an age old problem: how do you fix a marriage that just keeps breaking apart? Matthew and Tina have a volatile relationship and as they try to celebrate another rocky anniversary, they receive help in the form of their gay friend Christopher who quickly turns their lives upside down. Unexpected people leave and even more unexpected people grow closer than they ever anticipated. Suddenly the only way to make this marriage work is to come to an altogether unique and very modern conclusion that is as unexpected and refreshing as the story itself.

"The play has had a long and involved development process" Playwright Arthur M. Jolly says, "and I have come to know and love these characters. To see them brought to life with the undoubted talents of Donal, Deborah and Esteban - under the skillfull direction of Scott Marden - is heartwarming. This is my fiftieth play to be produced, but I've never felt like this before. It's like sitting in the engine room of a diesel train feeling the engine spooling up underneath you... there's a sense of unstoppable power, of something that is going to just take off and run."

Addressing issues of sexuality, modern marriage, relationships and the labels we choose to embrace or reject, this show offers an original and well needed fresh take on marriage and what it takes to truly make things work and to be happy.

Director Scott Marden says, "I think the most important message is the importance of honesty and communication in any relationship (especially the relationship with ourselves). It also deals with the idea of sexual orientation, with a specific look at male sexuality - and tries to deal with the discomfort that I think we have specifically with gay men. Recent years have seen a lot of progress in gay rights, but I think at this point, we are still much more comfortable with the varied states of female sexuality than we are with the dynamic levels a man's sexuality can take on. While this play is only looking at one relationship in particular, it can at least serve as the starting point for a changing in thought process or perspective on how we see men and how they express themselves sexually."

As full of heart as it is laughs, this show is sure to strike a nerve and leave you refreshed about the future of love and relationships. "There is power in socially relevant humor... but, whether this play changes anything for anyone, there is also laughter in it - and, just for it's own sake, that's worth it. We need to be able to sit back and laugh sometimes" says playwright Arthur M. Jolly.

Director Scott Marden agrees adding "I really love that this play is about three imperfect, flawed people who all love each other with utter abandon, and make huge mistakes in the process of trying to figure out how to love each other. It feels very honest, but the fact that it's a comedy lets us laugh about it, and hopefully look at our lives a little less seriously, which can let us make the changes we need to. It's a nice reminder to laugh whenever possible, sometimes that is the most important decision we can make."

A Very Modern Marriage is playing throughout June as part of the Hollywood Fringe Festival at the Lounge Theatre.

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