Mask & Mirror Community Theater opens its live production of Love Letters by A. R. Gurney on January 28 at the Chapel at Rise Church, 10445 S.W. Canterbury Lane in Tigard. Performances are January 28 and 29 and February 4, 5 and 11 at 7:30 p.m. and January 29 and February 5 and 12 at 2 p.m. Note that matinees are on Saturdays only. There are no Sunday performances. All tickets are just $12 and advance purchase is recommended (www.MaskandMirror.com). All attendees age 12 and over must show proof of vaccination and masks are required for all attendees over the age of 5.
A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Love Letters tells the story of a man and woman who exchange letters, but not marriage vows, in a complicated friendship lasting 50 years. It follows Andy and Melissa, whose lifetime correspondence begins in second grade with birthday party thank you notes and summer camp postcards. It continues through boarding school and college, where Andy excels at Yale and law school while Melissa drops out of several schools. Andy goes on to become a successful attorney, husband, and politician, while Melissa, her marriage in tatters, dabbles in art and drinks too much. Poignant, romantic, and frequently funny, their correspondence follows a bittersweet path of marriage, children, divorce, and missed opportunities. It is the life journey of two soul mates – enacted through words both written and unsaid – who share the greatest gift of all; the gift of love. As the actors read the letters aloud, what is created is an evocative and touching, but always telling, pair of character studies in which what is implied is as revealing and meaningful as what is actually written.
Director Linda Talluto said that when casting the show, she was struck by the different interpretations each actor brought to auditions. The words were the same but the feelings evoked were subtly different. She chose to cast two pairs of actors who alternate performances. “Each couple brings a different but beautiful take on the personalities of Andy and Melissa. You might want to see the show twice!” The actors playing Andy and Melissa are Ron Harman with Virginia Kincaid, and Peter Bolger with Rebecca Rowland-Hines.
Linda Talluto has been involved in theater for over 40 years and is well-known to alumni of the Tigard-Tualatin School District where she directed and taught drama. This is the fifth show she has directed for Mask & Mirror.
Mask & Mirror Community Theatre is a 501(c)3 non-profit performing company. Your support is appreciated. Additional information can be obtained by visiting www.MaskAndMirror.com or Info@MaskandMirror.com.
