‘Love Letters’ delights theater fans in Cambria

Two special friends take the audience on a lifetime journey via the written word at the Cambria Center for the Arts Theatre.

Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepeace Ladd III exchange the title missives in A.R. Gurney’s “Love Letters.” The highly praised play, which premiered in 1988, was revived as recently as 2015, in a national touring production starring Ali MacGraw and Ryan O’Neal of “Love Story.”

In the Cambria Center for the Arts production, Julian Crocker and his wife, Donna, delighted audience members as Andy and Melissa on opening weekend.

Playing the readers on Friday, Saturday and Sunday are Joel Cehn and Maryann Grau. Oz Barron and Kris Gregson take on the roles on Nov. 4 through 6, and Tom Ammon and Nancy Green tackle the parts on Nov. 11 through 13.

Being read to is a special treat for many people. The pleasure is enhanced when the readers, such as the Crockers, use perfect voices and inflections, from youngsters to mature adults. As director, Nancy Green impeccably guides these elderly novices.

Andy and Melissa begin exchanging letters as second graders in 1937, passing forbidden notes in public school.

Throughout the decades, the two keep abreast of each other by postcards or detailed letters. There’s even a sappy family holiday newsletter which, as its embarrassed author, Andy acknowledges, is full of hubris.

The early letters include complaints about schoolwork, teachers and little time for fun. In spite of some grousing, Andy actually takes pleasure in studying and acquiring knowledge.

Andy has an innate love for writing. Later in life he tells Melissa, “I feel like a true lover when I’m writing to you.”

Melissa, an artist, doesn’t feel that way. For her, writing is an irritant; sketching is how she communicates. (The best of Melissa’s influences is a female art instructor who introduces her to nude life drawing, and tells her “art and sex are sort of the same thing.”) Circumstances force Melissa to suffer through reading and writing in order to stay connected with her pal.

The wealthier of the two, Melissa lives with her miserable, alcoholic mother. She envies Andy’s wholesome family life.

All too soon, the two are separated, shipped to private, non-coed schools. Eventually, Melissa acknowledges some satisfaction in reading Andy’s letters, “just so I can hear a boy’s voice, even on paper.”

Melissa teases Andy about being so proper. He acknowledges he likes rules, “knowing where things stand.” Melissa, however, behaves as though rules were made to be broken.

Andy becomes quite stuffy and judgmental after reports of some of Melissa’s college escapades, and attributes her “goofing around” to being rich.

Melissa’s flouting of the rules is ultimately her ruin. She tries to play it straight, marrying a Wall Street businessman and having two daughters, but she eventually falls apart — a victim of her parents’ alcoholic genes.

With his beloved father as a teacher and role model, Andy enjoys a more conventional life.

It takes forever for these two pals to finally get physical, and when they do, things get mighty steamy. It’s fascinating how two people merely sitting at a table on stage and reading can be so vivid in the mind’s eye.

Some things never change. Even though kids nowadays would be texting, the subject matter is pretty much the same, giving this play a timeless quality.

This story was originally published October 26, 2016 at 10:00 AM with the headline "‘Love Letters’ delights theater fans in Cambria."