A chat with ‘Love Letters’’ Dorothy Silver, George Roth and Mark Corcoran

 

Bob Abelman

Cleveland Jewish News, The News Herald, The Morning Journal

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics

 

A production of A.R. Gurney’s simple yet startlingly poignant “Love Letters” requires just a table, two chairs and a pair of actors reading from letters their characters have exchanged over a long lifetime. 

 

The play is one of those rare and wonderful works whose tenderness, richness and running thread of longing and regret needs no embellishment from scenic designers.  It does, however, require some fine acting and an audience that can recall with fondness the quaint ritual of handwritten personal correspondence now lost in an era of phone texts and tweets.

 

Though the production is open to the general public, its core audience conveniently resides within the senior living community of Judson Manor, where Theatre in the Circle’s managing director Mark Corcoran and artistic director Bill Corcoran stage their shows.

 

The fine acting comes courtesy of stellar Cleveland performers Dorothy Silver and George Roth, who portray Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepeace Ladd III. 

 

The Cleveland Jewish News interrupted an early read-through of this play and caught up with the actors and director Mark Corcoran.

 

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