By A R Gurney
Love Letters traces the lifelong correspondence of the staid, dutiful lawyer Andrew Makepeace Ladd III and the lively, unstable artist Melissa Gardner. The story of their bittersweet relationship unfolds from what is written – and what is left unsaid – in their letters. A smash hit both on and off Broadway, Love Letters captures Andy and Melissa with a precision of detail and depth of feeling that only Gurney can command. Wagga audiences may recall a previous Gurney play presented by SoACT, Sylvia, in 2005.
Love Letters originally opened in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1988. Subsequently it was presented off-Broadway in February 1989 and then on Broadway in October of the same year, with Jason Robards as Andy and Colleen Dewhurst as Melissa. Since then the play has featured a roll call of some of the best-known names from Broadway and Hollywood.
SoACT’s production will feature two of Wagga’s well-established actors – Nancy Blacklow and Tony Trench.
NancyBlacklow’s most recent appearance in a mainstage production was as Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest at the Riverina Playhouse for SoACT in 2009. By way of contrast she also appeared as a bag lady as part of the Ten x 10 Playfest 2012. Previously she appeared in Colin Anderson’s production of Anything Goes for the Riverina Theatre Company in 2002. Nancy also curated the exhibition of historical material which accompanied the Wagga School of Arts’ 150th anniversary in 2009.
Tony Trench has appeared in many SoACT productions, most recently as President Nixon in Frost/Nixon and as McLeavy in Loot, both in 2012. Other leading roles have been in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, A View from the Bridge and Sylvia, also by A R Gurney.
Love Letters will be presented in the Basement Theatre (at the rear of the Wagga Civic Theatre) on the corner of Morrow and Tarcutta Streets for six performances only, on Fridays and Saturdays at 8.00pm and Sundays at 3.00pm from April 12 to 21. Tickets are available at the Civic Theatre Booking Office, phone 6926 9688.
