Skip to main content

Review of Love Letters (White Cobra) at The Playhouse Theatre, Northampton

A. R. Gurney's Love Letters is a very unorthodox play. First, as the title alludes to, it is an epistolary play. Secondly it involves virtually no movement from the actors, seated simply as a table and desk. Finally, it is performed as read from the script, so needs less rehearsal and history tells that it has therefore been performed by many famous actors since its debut in 1988. The likes of Kathleen Turner, William Hurt, Christopher Reeve, George Segal, Christopher Walken, Stockard Channing, Robert Vaughn, Elizabeth McGovern, Elizabeth Montgomery, Larry Hagman, Linda Gray and Charlton Heston to name a few of the dozens of names over the years to have taken the roles.

White Cobra Productions have also taken an approach of multiple actors in the roles, with four in total for each role across its run. The performance I saw, had Paul Fowler take on the role of Alan Ladd, while Lynne O'Sullivan was Melissa Gardner. Both are great in their roles, sparking off, but never directly speaking to each other as they read their letters to one another. It genuinely sounds as if it could be quite a dull play on paper, and it does take a little getting use to the format in the first few minutes, as cascades of words are thrown at you. However, slowly you begin to drift into the lives of these two people. A burgeoning love/hate/love relationship is revealed through letters, cards and Melisa's drawings. It all gradually becomes quite uplifting and Gurney's words have a very realistic feeling.

Much of the joy of Love Letters is watching the silent person, both Paul and Lynne put great effort into expressing their opinion of the letters as they hear them, most particularly when they are less enthusiastic about the content. The reading of Alan Ladd's "Christmas message" especially is a highlight, as Lynne grimaces and survives her way through this clinical letter.

Direction from Paul Fowler himself, and the set are kept simple and unobtrusive as this is very much a play of words, which barring the facial reactions, would work just as well on radio. It is clear that the letters themselves have been lovingly realised for the production by Denise Swann (who also stage manages).

I suspect that the eventual ending comes as no surprise, but when it does arrive, it really does provide genuine emotion. This play of lifelong love, with moments of playful banter (Mellisa happily calls Alan, Andrew Makepeace Ladd the turd at one point), stirs pretty much every emotions during it's couple of hours, and Gurney's language really does bring some beautiful words to the ear. A great production of what is actually a gorgeous, but very different play.


Performance reviewed: Wednesday 17th November, 2016 at the Playhouse Theatre, Northampton

Love Letters runs at The Playhouse until Friday 18th November, and has further dates scheduled for 2017. For details visit: http://www.whitecobraproductions.co.uk/

For full details about the Playhouse Theatre visit their website at http://www.theplayhousetheatre.net/

Popular posts from this blog

Review of Immune by R&D Youth Theatre at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

The cover note for the script of Oladipo Agboluaje's Immune describes it as "a challenging science fiction play with a large cast", and the word challenging in this case is not a lie. This is a fast paced, multi-cast changing script which leaves little room for error for its young cast in the performance. If the script isn't enough to handle for the young performers, director Christopher Elmer-Gorry and designer Carl Davies have made the situation even more complex for the actors with the set and stage work. Having to manhandle great panels on wheels and a huge cube, which also splits in two occasionally, during scene changes requires skill, coordination and cooperation of a high level. As if all this is not enough, the actual story is epic enough for the relatively small stage of the Royal. Attempting to form an apocalyptic world (albeit only happening in Plymouth) offers challenges in itself, but Agboluaje's script does that in a sort of apocalypse in the teac...

Review of Murder She Didn't Write at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

Murder She Didn't Write , stopping off for a four-day run at Royal & Derngate on a lengthy UK tour, treads the now well-worn path of an improvisational evening of theatre entertainment. Unsurprisingly, from the title, this show from Degrees of Error's takes a murder mystery as its inspiration, with the story influenced by ideas from the audience each evening. Due to this, Murder She Didn't Write and a review are very much an individual affair. What I saw in my evening at the theatre will differ significantly from what the audience will see the following evening; however, the fine performers will remain. The touring cast, in no particular order, is Lizzy Skrzypiec, Rachael Procter-Lane, Peter Baker, Caitlin Campbell, Stephen Clements, Douglas Walker, Harry Allmark, Rosalind Beeson, Sylvia Bishop, Emily Brady, Alice Lamb, Sara Garrard, Peta Maurice and Matthew Whittle. For my performance, Skrzypiec, Procter-Lane, Baker, Walker, Bishop, and Clements were on stage alongsid...

Review of Jekyll & Hyde at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

The Third Year BA Acting & Creative Practice students made their final appearance onstage together in an adaptation of Jekyll & Hyde by Royal & Derngate's Erica Martin, who directs with Trudy A Bell. It offered an inventive, if perhaps overlong, telling of the story, but allowed the diverse range of skills from the students to be fully exploited. This telling of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic, might at times feel a little different to those that know the story well. The piece itself, while in keeping with the Jekyll tale of a scientist exploring a hidden self, also developed a separate story, involving another culprit for Hyde's deadly adventures. This revolved around a local piece of history relating to the 1892 murder of Annie Pritchard (Amy Catherine), and the person convicted of her murder, an Andrew McCrae (Ben Loftus). It's a neat spin on fleshing out the tale, especially to allow more depth for the 23 strong year group to all be part of. So...