Rotating Cast to Perform LOVE LETTERS at BPA, 2/4-14

Grab your sweetheart and celebrate Valentine's Day with a memorable evening at Bainbridge Performing Arts during the two-week run of LOVE LETTERS, February 4 - 14. Prize-winning A.R. Gurney gives us a rich portrait of artist Melissa Gardner and politician Andrew Makepeace Ladd III as they take swings and misses through decades of love letters in this evocative, funny, and bittersweet story of their lives. Spilling from page to stage, LOVE LETTERS is a testament to the power of words - capturing the complexities of two hearts inextricably bound from childhood.

Presented in an imaginative and innovative three-cast rotation, this compelling two-person production will entice audience members into seeing the show more than once! LOVE LETTERS features three different casts, performing two nights each: Marilyn Dearsley and George Shannon on Thursday and Friday, February 4 and 5, Barbara Deering and John Ellis on Sunday, February 7 and Saturday, February 13, and Victoria Brown and Jack Armstrong on Friday, February 12 and Sunday, February 14.

Ann Wilkinson Ellis makes her BPA directorial debut with this production. Ann has appeared on stage in Private Eyes, It's A Wonderful Life, and The Vagina Monologues at BPA. She has also produced the award-winning independent film Farewell to Harry, the inspirational CD Still With Thee, and the BPA Gallery exhibit, "Grey Matters - All Things Elephant."

Ann is very pleased to be directing LOVE LETTERS, saying, "It reflects and speaks to our culture...the time we invest or don't invest in collecting our thoughts, the effort (or lack thereof) we spend in thoughtful personal communication, especially given the tools at our disposal."

With the decline of hand-written letters and the emergence of the emoji, Ann wonders, "What parts of our souls are being denied the gift of reflection, contemplation, and original expression?" Writing by hand is personal. "There's heat to it. What a thought to relish!" she continues. "Someone you love holding your words, reading them over and over, getting clues of who you are from the way you make your 'Y's,' folding and refolding your letter, and keeping it someplace close. Or, perhaps burning this declaration - this evidence of the damning truth in your heart."

Signed. Sealed. Delivered. LOVE LETTERS appears at BPA February 5 - 14, with shows on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3:00 p.m. There is NO performance on Saturday, February 6, and a special non-ticketed performance will be held Thursday, February 4 at 7:30 p.m. The Opening Night Reception will be Friday, February 5 at 6:30 p.m.

Tickets, $27 for adults, $22 for seniors, and $19 for students, youth, military, and teachers, may be purchased online at www.bainbridgeperformingarts.org, by phone at 206.842.8569 or in person at BPA, 200 Madison Avenue North, Bainbridge Island. BPA Box Office hours are 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, and one hour prior to each performance. LOVE LETTERS is produced by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc.

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