Mark/Skydiving

by Lynn Coady

If you crossed Aristophanes with Eugene Ionesco, and then mixed in a bit of tag-team wrestling, you might end up with something like Lynn Coady’s irreverent short play Mark. When a not-so-innocent question provokes an argument one Sunday afternoon, it doesn't take long before modern-day courtesy is tossed aside and the true pagan blood sport of competitive couplehood rears its ugly head. Points are hard-won and the penalties are swift and painful—with game play this punishing, what could possibly lie in store for the loser? Or the winner for that matter? But how do you actually win this thing anyway? And what do baby seals have to do with it? Wait, what team was I on again? Skydiving, a companion piece to Mark, examines the idea of relationship from the inside out. Ash has lost her memory, and her husband Cam is trying to help her remember their life together. Looking at their life choices with fresh eyes, the couple gains a whole new perspective on marriage, personal history, and the interconnectedness of everything. Featuring game show elements and glowing quotations, Skydiving is a meditation on memory and love that is by turns hilarious and poignant.

96 pages, Paperback

First published August 20, 2012

About the author

Lynn Coady is an award-winning author, editor, and journalist. Her previous novels include Saints of Big Harbour, which was a national bestseller and a Globe and Mail Top 100 book, and Mean Boy, a Globe and Mail Top 100 book. Her popular advice column, Group Therapy, runs weekly in the Globe and Mail. Coady is originally from Cape Breton Island, NS, and is now living in Edmonton, Alberta.