BWW Reviews: LOVE LETTERS at Sam Bass Theatre Provides Interesting Character Study

It's amazing how easy it is to feel lonely in this world. There are so many ways in which we can connect to others in today's digital age. We all facebook, we text, we e-mail, we skype, and yet at much as we connect to others, it's often impersonal and isolating, and we choose to cower and hide behind detached forms of communication. Though the two characters in Love Letters, the 1988 Pulitzer Prize nominated play by A.R. Gurney, communicate via letters rather than through digital communication, they too seem simultaneously connected and disconnected from one another. While the title may suggest that the play may be a run of the mill romantic comedy, Gurney's play is more of a character study, and through Sam Bass's sturdy production, those characters vividly come to life.

The concept of the play is rather simple. It focuses on just two characters, Andrew Ladd III and Melissa Gardner, as they sit on opposite ends of the stage and re-read all of the letters sent between the two over their 50 year relationship from childhood friends through adulthood. Through their letters, we see both their respective successes, failures, hopes, and dreams but more importantly the flawed and troubled relationship between the pair.

Lynn Beaver's direction is blissfully simple and incredibly faithful to the original production in which both actors read their lines from their "letters." That conceit certainly benefits this production considering it serves as a last minute replacement for the canceled Death of a Maiden. As the Sam Bass Theatre selected, rehearsed, and mounted this production in a week's time, Lynn Beaver's direction and the production as a whole is quite an achievement. Indeed, it would still be an achievement if this was the end result of a standard rehearsal schedule. Sure, there are a few rough patches, but the focus on the personalities of the two characters more than makes up for any shortcomings.

As Melissa, Veronica Prior gives an infectious mix of stubbornness, angst, and vulnerability. She's clearly a women that masks her pain with wit and sass. And Frank Benge brings an earnestness and honesty to the character of Andy. While the characters may be quite different and their relationship is, at times, problematic and unhealthy, it's apparent that they'd be drawn to each other. What's not clear, and this is more a problem of the text itself rather than this production, is whether or not these characters truly love each other. They may want or need each other, they may be lonely, and they're certainly co-dependent, but love between these two seems doubtful.

Though the piece itself has a few hiccups, Sam Bass's production of Love Letters is a blissfully subtle study of two characters that we relate to much more than we'd like to admit.

Run time: Approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes including one 15 minute intermission.

NOTE: Due to adult language, LOVE LETTERS is not recommended for children.

LOVE LETTERS plays the Sam Bass Community Theatre at 600 N. Lee St, Round Rock, TX now thru April 6^th. Performances are Fridays thru Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm with an additional performance on Thursday, April 4^th at 8pm.

Tickets are $15-$18. For tickets and information, please visit www.sambasstheatre.org

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