About the work
“Eine perfekte Hochzeit” (original title “Zoey's Perfect Wedding”) is a comedy by the American playwright Matthew López, who also wrote “The Legend of Georgia McBride” and “The Inheritance”. The play was developed at the Denver Center Theatre Company, where it premiered in early 2018, directed by Mike Donahue; López was still revising the script during rehearsals. The German translation is by Hannes Becker, and the German-language premiere took place at Theater Oberhausen on 6 December 2025.
Plot
Brooklyn, 2008, shortly after Barack Obama's election: Zoey is celebrating her wedding at a hotel, and nothing goes right – an incompetent DJ, not enough food, embarrassing speeches, an overwhelmed cousin acting as wedding planner, and in the end the cake lands on the wedding dress. Zoey's college friends Rachel, Charlie and Sammy console themselves with alcohol, and as the night wears on their own conflicts break out into the open: Rachel and Charlie are struggling with their marriage, and Sammy is in an open relationship. Meanwhile the families of bride and groom collide with their very different worlds.
Cultural significance
López uses the mechanics of the wedding comedy to ask questions about marriage, friendship and shattered life plans. Set against the financial crisis and Obama's election, the play also hints at the social divisions that would later shape the United States.