ZippySaid Productions/Love Letters, written by A.R. Gurney, directed by David Agro, Purple Sandcastle Theatre, closes Feb. 16. Tickets right here.
A Pulitzer Prize finalist, the 1988 play Love Letters holds a particular place in American literature. It’s at all times being carried out someplace on the earth, and in lots of languages.
Fortunately, ZippySaid Productions has introduced the play again to Toronto, directed by David Agro, and produced by Deborah Shaw, who additionally occur to star within the present. Agro did the set and the lighting. He additionally got here up with the idea for this system, which is within the type of a letter, to not point out doing publicity as effectively. Agro is the corporate’s one-man band.
Background
The performs of the prolific Gurney concentrate on a sure class of individuals, specifically the previous cash WASPs of the north-east American seaboard and the Higher East Aspect of New York. He writes about what he is aware of, having been a part of that milieu himself — boarding colleges, Ivy League universities, and second houses in Newport and Palm Seashore.
What’s particular about Love Letters is that it’s learn, not memorized. The 2 actors sit aspect by aspect, studying from their scripts, by no means taking a look at one another. The magic of the play is that over the course of time, an intimate and absolutely fashioned portrait of the 2 characters emerges from the studying of the letters.
It’s good writing on the a part of Gurney.
This manufacturing has a really fairly set with two desks, the lady’s being white and the person’s darkish wooden. Behind them is a collage of letters on two strings connected to a big mannequin of a cathedral. Gurney within the script mandates that they’ll every have water, however their containers are very totally different and swimsuit the characters.
The Letters and the Characters
The primary letter begins in 1937 when the 2 protagonists are 8 years previous. Collectively, the letters cowl a span of fifty years and are unhappy, humorous, severe and offended by flip.
The 2 characters are Andrew Makepeace Ladd III (Agro) and Melissa Gardner (Shaw). Melissa’s household is richer than Andy’s, a reality which they each acknowledge. Their relationship could be very sophisticated. They’re clearly meant for one another however marry the incorrect individuals.
Melissa’s mother and father divorce, and her mom marries once more to a hateful stepfather. Her personal father turns into distant and has a second household. For his half, Andy comes from a steady dwelling. As one wag quipped: “Melissa could also be richer, however Andy has higher mother and father”.
In his performs, Gurney likes to painting stereotypes, but his talent as a author lies in giving them humanity. His characters dwell and breathe and develop far past their stereotypical beginnings.
By the tip of the play, we all know Andy and Melissa as actual individuals. We even have a agency understanding of the individuals of their lives.
The Performances
Andy by no means goes past the conservative values of his household and society. He attends the anticipated colleges, joins a prestigious New York regulation agency, marries the suitable lady, and goes into politics, turning into a United States senator.
Agro offers a positive efficiency — stiff, dogmatic, and restrained, but stuffed with compassion and heat. He takes enjoyment of following the trail of his forefathers but is stuffed with insecurities that he tries to cover. In Agro’s delicate arms, we all know that Andy is an effective and first rate man.
The creative Melissa is the insurgent who fights in opposition to the restrictive mores of her day. She pushes limits, and on account of looking for new and dangerous experiences, she turns into a misplaced soul. Her marriage collapses and he or she loses custody of her kids. Her life is adrift, and her temper swings turn into ever extra apparent.
At the start, Shaw was over-acting and her character as each a baby and teenager appeared pressured, however because the play progressed to maturity, Shaw discovered her footing and gave us a heartbreaking Melissa, attempting to overcome her very unhealthy selections, and failing at each flip.
Love Letters can be a play about silences, and Gurney has embedded them throughout the script. They’re as vital because the textual content. It’s inside these silences, brought on by phrases in a letter, that each Agro and Shaw excel. Their expressive faces inform us precisely what they’re feeling and pondering.
The start units the tone, and it’s nice timing. They stroll in, sit down of their chairs, and placed on their glasses at precisely the identical time. Their entrance after intermission is extra vibrant with Shaw nearly swinging onto the set, shouting “Firenze” as a result of she is in Florence. Agro’s Andy appears to be extra animated as effectively.
The 2 actors additionally give us a powerful rendering of the poignant ending to the play. Gurney would have been glad simply how transferring it was.
Clearly this forged understands the irony of the title.
Trivia
And right here’s some trivia for you. Over time, probably the most well-known actors of stage and display have carried out within the play, often as a profit to boost cash for charity. The actors typically have a connection. They had been in a film collectively, or a tv collection, or a Broadway play, and infrequently the actors are a married couple. The listing of the glitterati who’ve taken half in Love Letters is limitless.
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Paula Citron is a Toronto-based freelance arts journalist and broadcaster who hosts her personal web site, paulacitron.ca. For over 25 years, she was senior dance author for The Globe and Mail, affiliate editor of Opera Canada journal, arts reviewer for Classical 96.3 FM, and dance previews contributor to Toronto Life journal. She has been a visitor lecturer for numerous cultural teams and universities, significantly on the position of the critic/reviewer, and has been a panellist on COC podcasts. Earlier than assuming a full-time journalism profession, Ms. Citron was a member of the drama division of the Claude Watson Faculty for the Arts.
