In his critically acclaimed plays, A.R. Gurney has wittily captured the manners of upper-middle-class WASP America, but never as gracefully or with such dazzling economy as in Love Letters. In an era of emails, Love Letters reminds us of the intimacy of correspondence as it traces the relationship of the free-spirited but unstable artist Melissa Gardner, played by famed TV star Annie Potts, with the staid, dutiful lawyer Andrew Makepeace Ladd III, played by James Hugh Taylor.
Their loving but bittersweet friendship unfolds from what is written—and what is left unwritten—in 50 years of letters, from summer camps and boarding schools through college, war, career and relationships. A smash hit both off and on Broadway, Love Letters captures Andy and Melissa with a fullness of detail that only Gurney can command.
This production of Love Letters is directed and produced by Selma Al-Faqih, an up-and-coming independent filmmaker who produced and served as cinematographer on Bandwagon, winner of the Maverick Award at the 2004 Newport Beach Film Festival.
