Written
by AR Gurney, Love Letters is a unique and imaginative theatre
piece which, in the words of the author, "needs no theatre, no lengthy
rehearsal, no special set, no memorization of lines, and no commitment
from its two actors beyond the night of performance."
The piece is comprised of letters exchanged over a lifetime between
two people who grew up together, went their separate ways, but continued
to share confidences. As the actors read the letters aloud, what
is created is an evocative, touching, frequently funny but always
telling pair of character studies in which what is implied is as
revealing and meaningful as what is actually written down.
Andrew Makepeace Ladd III and Melissa Gardner, both born to wealth
and position, are childhood friends whose lifelong correspondence
begins with birthday party thank-you notes and summer camp postcards.
Romantically attached, they continue to exchange letters through
the boarding school and college years - where Andy goes on to excel
at Yale and law school, while Melissa flunks out of a series of
"good schools."
This is the story of pen pals for life. What begins as a
writing exercise becomes a correspondence that lasts. They share
letters through the years, eventually meeting and building upon
their friendship. Time takes them from friends to lovers, but eventually
their lives take them to other parts of the country and even the
world. The letters they share sometimes keep them up to date while
other times they share their most intimate thoughts. They share
a brief affair, but again their lives take them in opposite directions.
While Andy is off at war Melissa marries, but her attachment to
Andy remains strong and she continues to keep in touch as he marries,
becomes a successful attorney, gets involved in politics and, eventually,
is elected to the U.S. Senate. Meanwhile, her marriage in tatters,
Melissa dabbles in art and gigolos, drinks more than she should,
and becomes estranged from her children. Eventually she and Andy
do become involved in a brief affair, but it is really too late
for both of them. However Andy's last letter, written to her mother
after Melissa's untimely death, makes it eloquently clear how much
they really meant, and gave to, each other over the years-physically
apart, perhaps, but spiritually as close as only true lovers can
be.
When asked what brought about the script, Love Letters, A.R.
Gurney responded, "Actually, I wasn't trying to write a play at
all. I always used to write all my plays on a typewriter. Finally,
a few years ago, I broke down and bought a computer. But I didn't
know how to use the word processing software. So I sat down at the
computer and decided to teach myself how."
Rather than typing mindless exercises about quick red foxes jumping
over lazy brown dogs, Gurney started writing letters. He wrote letters
back and forth between two fictional characters. Gradually, they
took on a life of their own.
"When the characters started speaking to me I realized I would need
to stay with it and see the story through," he said. By the time
he'd finished, he was a master of word processing. He also had the
working draft of what we now know as Love Letters, only he
thought it was a short story. "So when I finished it I sent it off
to The New Yorker for possible publication," he said. "But they
rejected it. They wrote me a letter saying they were sorry, but
they didn't publish plays." It was a "Eureka!" moment, the discovery
of something previously unseen. "I thought to myself, 'This isn't
a play, but maybe it will work as one,"' Gurney said. "So I began
reworking it a little (it didn't take much) to make it fit the stage."
It also didn't take much time to take off as a hit. Love Letters
has proven to be one of the most enduring and beloved works of the
playwright.
sources: Dramatists Play Service, Inc. and Dramatiska
Institutet. |
