Older and wiser, Performing Arts Company revisits Love Letters
The magic of handwritten letters is almost a relic of the past, yet it holds a powerful place in history and human connection. This sentiment is at the heart of Love Letters, a play by A. R. Gurney that unravels six decades of a love story through the simple yet profound medium of letters exchanged between two individuals.
Presented by the Performing Arts Company from February 13 to 16 at the Lionel Wendt Theatre, the production weaves together humour, cynicism, romance, and heartbreak, offering a poignant commentary on love, communication, and the changing dynamics of relationships over time.
Unlike contemporary romance, which thrives on instant messaging and video calls, the play highlights a time when relationships unfolded slowly, letter by letter. The story follows Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepeace Ladd III, childhood friends whose enduring bond spans nearly 60 years through a lifelong exchange of letters, notes, and messages. From childhood birthday parties to the awkward teenage years into adulthood, their relationship evolves, wavers, and perseveres. Bound by an unspoken connection, Melissa and Andrew’s friendship becomes complicated by their numerous and sometimes unsuccessful attempts to date, as well as their eventual marriages to different people. Despite their diverging careers and personal lives, their correspondence remains a constant. Told entirely through their letters, the play captures the nuances of their evolving relationship, exploring love, missed opportunities, societal expectations and the passage of time.
First performed in 2009, this will be the third time this play is staged by the Performing Arts Company, with veteran thespians Mohamed (Adam) Adamaly and Tracy Holsinger reprising their roles as Andrew and Melissa. “When we first looked at this script in 1994, I just thought you have to live a lot more before you can do this play. So we just put it away,” recalls Adam.
“We took it up about seven or eight years later, looked at it again, and Tracy and I talked about it, and we felt that we hadn’t lived enough to do this. We finally ended up performing it in 2009, at which point we felt we were able to relate to the characters better. I think now, more than a decade later, we connect with it on an even deeper level. It is a play that is very difficult to read without having lived through some parts of life and having engaged with people in different ways.”
As the actors revisit the script with each performance, they discover new layers within the text, proving that love, like great theatre, only deepens with time. “We’ve been talking about the fact that we are now closer to the actual ages of the characters, and it just feels different,” says Tracy. “We’re approaching it a little more differently – we’re playing it as older people, and I think along with that, when I’m looking at some of the lines, I find myself thinking I want to deliver that differently. There is the temptation to go with what you’re comfortable with and what you remember, but that’s not such a great thing because you look for truthfulness every time you do it, so it’s best not to go back and try and do something we did 13 years ago and deliver it as who we are now.”
“The beautiful thing about this play is that sometimes years go by with just a Christmas greeting, and yet, nothing has changed between them,” notes Adam. “In today’s context of instant communication, a lot of people feel the need to be in constant contact, and if they don’t have that link, they can’t sustain a relationship. In this play, the relationship stays perfectly understood between the two of them, despite the lack of communication for long periods.”
For those who have ever written or received a heartfelt letter, Love Letters will strike a deeply personal chord. Whether it brings back memories of old-fashioned courtship or introduces a new perspective on relationships, Love Letters is a compelling evening of theatre celebrating one of the most powerful human traits—our ability to communicate.
Love Letters, presented by the Performing Arts Company from February 13 to 16 at the Lionel Wendt Theatre at 7.30 p.m., is directed by Nafeesa K. Amiruddeen and produced by
Nadira and Mohamed Adamaly.
Tickets are available online at https://boxoffice.lk/events/love-letters/
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