Play Review--Why Did I Get Married?

Why Did I Get Married?
Written and directed by Tyler Perry
starring Cheryl Pepsii Riley, LaVan Davis, Donna Stewart, Cordell Moore, Greg Stewart, Tony Grant, Demetria McKinney, Beverly Faulks

A couple’s retreat at a lakeside cabin reveals pains, struggles, and the essence of keeping a marriage working despite travails and sorrows.

Every year folks gather at Poppy’s (Davis) cabin for a couples retreat. This year a wildcard has been introduced in the form of Trina (McKinney) who is single and incorrigible. Sheila (Riley) has dragged her husband Mike (Moore) along in order to try and save their marriage. Due to stress she has put on over eighty pounds and Mike is sickened by the sight of her. Diana (Donna Stewart) and Terry (Greg Stewart) are a happily married couple of ten years who have suffered a a few glitches along the way but who stay committed to one another. Troy, who has a history of dating women he forgets almost as soon as he meets them, also comes along.

The play is set up like all of Tyler Perry’s productions. There is plenty of deep soul searching, terrific gospel-tinged music, and an indestructible focus on the power of God to change people’s lives. As per usual there are several transformations as key individuals face things about themselves that they find somewhat reprehensible and in dire need for a change.

Diana loathes Trina on sight and their banter together is frothy and occasionally mean spirited. Diana thinks she is a whore and makes her feelings felt from the outset. For her part Trina is not so much a whore as a gold digger whose sole ambition as far as relationships are concerned is to marry a rich man.

Everyone in this film is successful in their own way. Terry owns a restaurant and Diana is a lawyer. After suffering tremendous verbal abuse at the hands of her husband, Sheila sinks into a depression which only worsens when she finds out that Mike has been sleeping with Trina behind her back.

The play fast forwards a year and the group has returned for yet another retreat. Diana and Terry are still happily married and Mike begins to reminisce about his time with Sheila. Yet, he is married to Trina and is deeply chagrined by her spending habits. He is especially upset when he sees who Troy has brought to the gathering. It’s predictable as all hell and not particularly gratifying when Sheila walks through the door looking mighty fine and dressed to thrill. Naturally, this fuels Mike’s jealous which triggers another argument with his newly minted wife.

The play is low key with a few laughs scratched out now and then. Mostly, it feels like a series of sermons about the necessity of keeping God first and foremost in one’s life. Most of the songs bring God to the fore as exceedingly vital and necessary for anyone attempting to make their way in the world. There is quite a bit of advice on how to keep a marriage working and of the values that are worth pursuing when one is either thinking about or in the process of getting married. In many ways this can be read as a primer for prospective brides and grooms, shilling out wisdom about what and what not to do during the difficult, strenuous parts of marriage. It’s clear watching this play that marriages are often quite tumultuous and filled with strain. The key, according to this play, is communication tempered by a strong belief in God. The happy couple in this play are both God-fearing and their counterparts mostly are not.

LaVan Davis as Poppy is the glue that keeps the whole experience together. He’s good for the only sustainable laughs in the play and most of them come from a single line seemingly tossed away. Poppy fits in nicely in the mode of Perry creations who are slightly crazy but infinitely lovable at the same time.

This play speaks clearly to anyone who has ever considered themselves to be in love. It’s a challenge to individuals to examine the bedrock of their relationship in order to determine if the love is legit or not. True love, according to Mr. Perry, must first be ordained by God. Ultimately, the play argues, it’s his purpose which should take precedence in any relationship if it is going to work most effectively. It’s the same way with every one of Perry’s productions although not so much in some of his films. Here we have a character who is subject to a continuous litany of abuse. She takes it because she feels she has no place to run to. There is a very strong sense of just desserts here as Mike strays to chase tail that proves to be much more trouble than she is worth. Again, the focus is on maintaining strong relationships that are built on God as well as mutual trust and understanding. Mike cannot see past Sheila’s weight and realizes he missed the train when he sees her thinner self returning to taunt him.

Some of the messages here do have a ring of truth to them but they also sound like they were scribbled in the margins of one of Dr. Phil’s books. Of course basic, fundamental tools are implemented in an exceedingly direct and obvious way. There are no real surprises here as is the case with all of Perry’s works. It’s just a simple, easily digestible melodrama that espouses a dramatic, unabashedly Christian ethos that plays mainly to the choir. The songs are all quite impressive in their histrionics and intensity. They all cement key points home and serve the purpose of scaffolding to hold the entire production aloft. The play needs the songs to elevate the written material to the level of sanctity that Perry clearly intends the production to reach. The results are intermittently successful but it is not for want of trying.

The performances in this film all serve the play effectively. Donna Stewart plays one the more solid, emotionally salient characters in all of Perry’s canon. There’s a warmth to her that is apparent in every scene she is in. Diana is a model of religious conviction and her virtues as a successful woman are clearly present and vital to the core message of the story. LaVan Davis does a fine job playing most of his scenes for laughs. His bluesy prayer during suppertime is memorable for its rich textures and obvious sincerity. Demetria McKinney deliciously plays a hostile character obsessed more with the symbol of money than maintaining a healthy relationship. Trina is very much the anti-Diana and subsequently adversarial to the basic meaning of the play. Yet she represents a great number of women who believe in the power of the bling above all other concerns and who think they can find true happiness by maxing out an American Express card at the mall. Cheryl Pepsii Riley plays well with or without a fat suit. She’s good at emotional turmoil or in sassy confident mode.

Overall, this play ranks in the middle of the pack for Tyler Perry productions. It’s message is crystal and the songs are uplifting to those willing and able to believe. Much of it is melodrama but it gets the point across which is precisely what it needs to do. It takes its viewers on a very specific journey and clearly intends the audience to feel enlightened at the final curtain. For the most part it succeeds although it does feel at times as if it tries a little too hard to soften the hearts of those who do not share the same core beliefs the play is attempting to convey. Ultimately, the play will reach the flocks of those who follow Tyler Perry and who take his every word as gospel. For the rest of us, it’s just a nice, solid play with moments of legitimate clarity that ring out with something approaching truth.