DTC’s ‘Love Letters’ flawlessly elegant

The esteemed American playwright A.R. “Pete” Gurney has been writing for a long time – about a play a year for about 40 years – but nothing he’s written matches the impact of his acclaimed “Love Letters,” now at the Delaware Theatre Company.

Seated and facing the audience, two actors read a lifetime’s worth of letters. From this straightforward premise, the playwright has crafted a moving work of intimacy, humor and longing.

Opening DTC’s 36th season, director Bud Martin and the accomplished actors Daniel Davis and Michael Learned bring Gurney’s script vividly to life. Melissa Gardner (Ms. Learned) and Andrew Makepeace Ladd III (Mr. Davis) begin their correspondence as children, writing – or refusing to write – their obligatory second-grade thank-you notes.

Andy loves the letter writing that allows him to express things not otherwise possible in their upper crust East Coast world. Melissa doesn’t correspond as easily and sometimes doesn’t even like to read his letters, accusing Andy of too much writing. She is an artistic spirit and he’s on a steadier path, but their differences connect them over a lifetime. Though Ladd has the more aristocratic name, Gardner’s family is wealthier, and this theme of striving and privilege, each with its rewards or toll, forms the narrative bedrock of the play.

Gurney writes of and from a time before today’s constant chatter, when putting pen to paper was (aside from the telephone) the primary method of long-distance communication. The work’s epistolary nature might make it seem quaint or dated, but the playwright skillfully taps into our longing to connect. And his dramatic mastery makes what’s unsaid drive the play forward, so that we come to know Melissa and Andy almost as much from their silences as from their words.

Martin’s production is faultlessly elegant and impeccably crafted. Like the play itself, the staging is deceptively simple. Audiences generally expect stagecraft from a director – blocking, movement, action. But this work requires a subtle touch. Each actor’s desk and chair hints at personality. Scott Cocchiaro’s rich lighting changes almost imperceptibly with shifts in emotion. And three iconic paintings by artist Mary Page Evans float over the actors behind a transparent scrim, mirroring the characters’ personalities and connection.

Here, simple gestures – Andy pulling out Melissa’s chair on the darkened stage or how an actor places a letter down on the desk – speak volumes. There is nowhere to hide here and nothing to obscure the emotional journey.

Davis and Learned both bring to this play a lifetime of skill, refinement, personal experience and technique. Each has had a substantial career both onstage and in television, and the intersection of those two different types of acting serves this play particularly well.

The small, meaningful movements required of the TV actor are easily read in such an intimate work, while their stage technique allows them to build and sustain the deepening connection of two people over a lifetime. It is a privilege to watch them work.

“Love Letters” opened in 1989 and has been on the boards almost constantly ever since. It’s been translated into 24 languages and seen in 40 countries. Right now there is a major Broadway revival (that drew scathing reviews), and last year, DTC presented the play as a fundraiser featuring Gov. Jack and Carla Markell. Charming and engaging, “Love Letters” is a natural choice for a season opener.

But lovely as it is, this is not a casual play. As a young student, Andy proudly quotes the last lines of Milton’s epic poem “Paradise Lost” to impress Melissa. But it’s really the playwright setting out his theme for us as we follow their path:

The world was all before them …

They hand in hand, with wandering steps and slow,

Through Eden took their solitary way.

As Gurney shows us, we each must take our solitary way. But luckily, sometimes we have people like the playwright – and Davis and Learned – as our guides.

Gail Obenreder is an arts professional, writer and producer from Wilmington.

If you go

WHAT: “Love Letters” by A.J. Gurney

WHERE: Delaware Theatre Company, 200 Water St., Wilmington

WHEN: Through Oct. 5.

TICKETS: $30-$45

FOR MORE INFORMATION: (302) 594-1100; www.delawaretheatre. org