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“No one has ever experienced a love as great as ours.” This is what three successive Marys tell themselves, despite evidence to the contrary and a knack for repeating mistakes handed down through the generations in a quest to find the perfect love in Rachel Crothers' Mary the Third, presented by Women Seeking at the West End Theatre.

The three Marys ponder marriage in separate time periods: the first in 1870 when Mary (Anna Malinoski) and her beau William (Chris Gatterdam) decide to abandon the fiancés chosen for them by their parents and make a life together instead. A few set pieces move and with a quick costume change (made on the stage), we’re in 1897 where another Mary (also Malinoski) isn’t sure who she is or what she wants and is trying to decide between suitors, Richard (Michael Deleget), a poet and intellectual snob whom she “loves sometimes,” and Robert (Loren Dunn), less exciting, but steady. Calling her a “little girl,” Robert promises Mary the moon and stars and she agrees to marry him.

Director Katrin Hilbe treats us to another on-stage costume change and we’re in 1923 where Mary (again Molinoski) is trying to decide between two swains, Hal and Lynn (Deleget and Dunn) and wishes she could combine parts of both of them into one perfect man. She convinces them and friends Max (Gatterdam) and Lettie (Stephanie Schweitzer) that they should go off and “experiment” with being married to each other to see whether they like it. This horrifies her grandmother (who is the first Mary, and divinely portrayed by Ann Parker as a meddling, Victorian prude), her mother, (the second Mary, played by Rhonda Ayers) and her father (Robert, played by Dan Jacoby). Although she finds an ally in her brother Bobby (Ben Sumrall), she chooses to put her parents first and doesn’t go through with the plan which would disgrace them all. Disillusioned to discover that her parents have been unhappy with each other for years, she resolves not to marry, but yields when her mother tells her that “there’s nothing wrong with marriage; it’s what people do to it.” She doesn’t appear to choose wisely, however, and seems destined to repeat the cycle.

The play’s themes are interesting and surprisingly timely (this is the first revival of the work in New York since it premiered in 1923). Meredith Neal’s costumes stand out, with the women’s evening wear shifting period style, but remaining in shades of pink, mauve and burgundy to emphasize the relationship between the women. The men are in black and grays – the story really isn’t about them, except when they get the Marys to see them as more colorful and as a result, are able to influence their thoughts.

Heidi B. Anderson’s set is minimal. Frames are moved around to represent doors. A sofa is featured in each of the stories, even serving as a car when the flapper-era threesome goes for a joy ride. “All sorts of things have happened on that sofa,” quips Granny, but alas, it's not proven to be a perfect loveseat.

--Lauren Yarger

Mary the Third plays at the West End Theatre (263 W. 86th Street). Performances are Saturday, Nov. 22 at 3pm; Sunday, Nov. 23 at 3pm; Friday, Dec. 5 at 6:30pm; Saturday, Dec. 6 at 3pm; Sunday Dec. 7 at 3pm. Tickets are $18.00 and can be purchased by calling 212-868-4444 or by visiting www.SmartTix.com.