The One review | Melbourne Fringe Festival | Arts House

With marriage equality a contentious topic across the country, you'd think the last thing you want to see on stage is a white, heterosexual, cisgender couple arguing whether they should get married or not. However, Jeffrey Jay Fowler's The One, is more than just a look at marriage, it's a candid scrutiny of what love is and how this is - or should be - expressed when you believe you have found 'the one'.

This two hander follows a man and a woman (Mark Storen and Georgia King) who are in a happy long-term relationship with each other and have all the cute romantic quirks that go along with it. Everything appears to be going great for them, until - triggered by his brother's upcoming wedding - the man proposes to the woman and she says no. She says no, not because she doesn't love him, but because she doesn't agree with the concept of marriage and what it stands for. 

The woman's disdain for holy matrimony is brilliantly captured by King, who effortlessly conveys the frustration and anger she feels at the man for failing to understand and accept her reasoning. As the man, Storen brings a vulnerability and naivety to the character in his belief that this is the natural next step in their relationship and how perfect their lives will be together when they are married. King and Storen's chemistry is palpable and with Fowler's stirring script, explore both sides of marriage with honesty and emotional rawness.

The One | Melbourne Fringe Festival interview

Back in 2015, Jeffrey Jay Fowler was part of the team that won Best Performance for Fag/Stag, an outstanding play about the friendship between two best friends, one straight and one gay. This year, Fowler returns to the Festival with his newest work, The One. Already receiving critical acclaim during its run at Perth's Fringe World, the show takes a timely look at the institute of marriage and how love can be one confusing concept.

"Two unnamed characters, a man and a woman (Mark Storen & Georgia King), meet at a garden party at the end of summer and fall in love. Across the next few years they remain in love and eventually he proposes, knocking their romance into turbulent waters," Fowler tells me. "Mark and Georgia commissioned me to write a show, and then I proposed the idea to them that it should be a show about marriage and love. Because I wrote the show for them, I wanted to use their talents and Mark's talents include playing blues guitar."

While some arts makers prefer to keep the roles of director and writer separate, Fowler prefers to direct his own work and so taken on this dual role for The One. "In fact I've only worked as a director a couple of times on other people's shows and only had one other director direct mine. I really am a writer/director at heart. I love the control to be honest. And the collaboration!"