Maryann Plunkett鈥檚 husband Jay O. Sanders has another wife, and she could not be more thrilled. The real-life couple plays brother and sister-in-law in Richard Nelson鈥檚 new three-play cycle,The Gabriels: Election Year in the Life of One Family at the Public Theater. Despite Sanders鈥� character being married to someone else, the duo is living their dream as co-stars. They feel extremely lucky when they get to work side by side, whether sharing an electric first kiss on the set of the Spenser: For Hire spinoff in 1989, or playing in-laws. Hungry, the first of The Gabriels trilogy introduces audiences to the Gabriels and the struggles they endure over the course of an election year. Aside from a few minor details, the set feels like home for Sanders and Plunkett. The pair explains why working together works, even if they occasionally have to kiss other people.
This is the second Richard Nelson cycle that you鈥檝e done together. The first was 2013鈥檚 The Apple Family Plays. Does working together in The Gabriels feel any different than when you performed together then?
Jay O. Sanders: Each play has it鈥檚 own challenges, but the two of us working together is the same thing as waking up in the morning, making breakfast and getting ready鈥攚e鈥檝e been doing it now for so many years.
Maryann Plunkett: That鈥檚 how we met.
JS: It鈥檚 very comfortable. We鈥檙e both very confident in our own ways of working, and we don鈥檛 get in each other鈥檚 ways, but we are playful with each other. There鈥檚 a natural connection on stage鈥攁 natural communication that you have with somebody you know that well.
MP: And we鈥檙e very honored to be a part of what is sort of Richard Nelson鈥檚 鈥渞ep company,鈥� doing magnificent plays for this period of time. We wake up in the morning and we go off to work together to explore these plays. It鈥檚 really fortunate that we both [were cast], because if one of us had not been in these plays, one of us would have been very jealous.
JS: And they鈥檝e allowed us to travel. We did six weeks in Europe last spring [with The Apple Family Plays] and neither one of us was just a spouse coming along for the ride. We were both completely engaged and getting the experience, so we鈥檙e very lucky. We know it and we enjoy it. We never take it for granted.
MP: We, literally, say that often. We look at each other and laugh and say, 鈥淲e are so lucky.鈥�
It鈥檚 also lucky because it鈥檚 such a steady job. Does knowing that you鈥檒l both be employed throughout this year make home life easier?
JS: We both tend to stay busy, but it鈥檚 nice knowing that you鈥檙e going to be busy like this in the same thing, and we have a break from the end of March until mid- August.
MP: [Which is when] our son is graduating from college, so it all worked out.
JS: We have time where we could be doing another project or two in between if something comes up, but there鈥檚 not the same concern about it. It does take the pressure off of things.
You鈥檝e mentioned that you both have your own ways of working. How does that manifest in rehearsal?
JS: We met when we were in our mid-30s so we already had developed a style of working. We discovered that we鈥檙e very compatible, but it鈥檚 different than growing up and building all that together. If one of us wants help from the other, we ask for it, but otherwise we鈥檙e just working parallel in our own ways. It鈥檚 not a couple act; she doesn鈥檛 need me to be there to do what she does, and I don鈥檛 need her there. It鈥檚 just an added pleasure. You go out for lunch together, and make plans afterwards together.
MP: You get interviewed about being a couple鈥�.
JS: You鈥檙e the first one to interview us about this, but people鈥攅specially other married couples鈥攁sk us about this all the time. There鈥檚 some people who do fine with their spouses at home and in life, but they say, 鈥淏oy if I had to work with him or her that would drive me crazy,鈥� but we鈥檙e very much the opposite. We relax with it.
The play鈥檚 action takes place in the kitchen while the cast is preparing a meal. Does it remind you of being at home at all?
MP: [The set] is a big house with a work table in the middle of the kitchen. It has the feel of an old house. We live in an apartment in New York City, so our kitchen is very different.
JS: But we hang around the kitchen and talk while we鈥檙e doing stuff at home. [In the play] it鈥檚 me and four women in the kitchen. It is interesting to be there will all the women talking, and with another woman who鈥檚 playing my wife. We鈥檙e coupled differently.
Is that weird for you to be on the same stage with your real-life wife while being married to another woman?
JS: No, it hasn鈥檛 been.
MP: We did a play once though where we both had kissing scenes with other people and that was a little weird. You just go, 鈥淥h I don鈥檛 need to watch that scene. I鈥檓 going to go look at my lines,鈥� or 鈥淚 have to go to the bathroom right now.鈥� It鈥檚 not disturbing or anything, I just don鈥檛 need to watch it.
JS: Both of us are used to going to unusual places for drama. There are a lot of actors who are married to people who aren鈥檛 actors and that鈥檚 stranger for their spouse, like 鈥淲ait, you鈥檙e kissing that guy every night?鈥� You watch a lot of relationships where people struggle with that, but I think it helps that we both know what鈥檚 involved.
Definitely. What show was it that you guys met on?
JS: We met doing an episode of a short-lived TV series called A Man Called Hawk, which was a spin off of Spenser: For Hire. Our first kiss was on the show.
Really? Did it feel like a first kiss or did it feel like a job?
BOTH: It felt like a first kiss!
JS: Yeah it was pretty intense鈥� We were realizing something that we wouldn鈥檛 give way to for another year-and-a-half or so. But, yeah, it is odd. You make yourself vulnerable. You engage romantically, even if it鈥檚 just for the half hour that you鈥檙e shooting something.
But if making connections is just part of the job, what was different about your first kiss?
MP: Well, the character I was playing was nine months pregnant, I was not pregnant, but my character was and it was his baby. I鈥檓 not sure if I ever told him this, but I remember sitting with him in between takes with my big pregnant pillow on, and, as he was talking, he had his hand on my fake pregnant pillow belly. He was talking and stroking my fake pregnant belly and it was so natural. He was this big guy and he was so tender.
JS: I was really tender.
MP: Or just really smart! He thought, 鈥淟ook she鈥檚 pregnant. I know I鈥檒l touch her belly,鈥� but it worked! No, it was just the tenderness that really got me. He鈥檚 blushing!
JS: That鈥檚 our story.
MP: And look where we are now! We have a son who is graduating from college.
