24 Jun 2024
A.R Gurney’s production comes to the Abbey Theatre Studio – Deborah Heath puts pen to paper afterwards…
Company of Ten have offered us a brilliant range of theatre this season but in this penultimate production they have perhaps taken the biggest risk which makes its success all the more impressive.
‘Love Letters’ by 20th century American playwright A.R. Gurney, is a two-hander in which the correspondence between friends Andy and Melissa, spanning 50 years, is read by the actors. The playwright is somewhat didactic in his stage directions insisting that the script should be read out not learnt, there is no real action, no incidental music in fact taking away most of the interpretive scope for a director.
Now, as a playwright myself I think this is a bit disrespectful,
because in truth, although we might create the play by initially writing the script, we do not create a production of it. This is the point at which we hand over our baby to the director, cast and technical team for them to weave their own magic and bring out their own interpretation. A.R. Gurney, although now departed, would have had no cause for concern for this production however, because Company of Ten have selected three of their most experienced creatives for the job;
Director Tina Swain and actors Terry Prince and Rosemary Goodwin. I asked Tina Swain what it was like working with such a challenging script.
She explained that they started by working intensively on character realisation. This was extremely clear in the actor’s portrayals where all gestures, intonations and reactions were spot on.
“The characters begin as seven-year-olds, yet the author specifies ‘no baby talk’”, Tina explained “So we had to work hard to establish a playfulness in manner instead.”
I feel this was hugely successful, particularly enjoying when Terry Prince as Andy detailed his stay in hospital when “They took my temperature the wrong way!”
A Company of Ten set is generally something I would happily devote a paragraph to. In this case it is deceptively simple. We are presented with two desks in a black box studio space but as you pass through this space, please take a minute to look at the detail with which each has been arranged and indeed selected.
They are quite simply the only desks these characters would sit at and represent so much about the American class system that they function in.
Like a good radio drama, without visuals and stage action to help you, the audience have to fill in the gaps with pictures from their own imagination. Because these images are utterly personal to everyone watching they are more powerful than anything we can see with our own eyes.
However, this is only made possible when you have skilled actors such as Rosemary Goodman and Terry Prince who managed to establish not just their own characters well but the other key players in the story,
For instance, the overbearing presence of Melissa’s mother was very clear in my mind from the raised eyebrows, intonation change and of course reactions from the two actors. I could almost reach out and stroke Andy’s beloved and energetic dogs.
The net result of the audience having to work with the actors to complete the gaps means that the play becomes a very personal journey, especially because it is in the intimate space of the Abbey Theatre Studio. Taking away the distractions of a detailed set and technical plot also means that we focus absolutely on the actor’s craft. I particularly appreciated their reactions which I might have overlooked in a busier play.
So why should you buy a ticket for this play? Well, because I encourage you to experience a bold choice which has been expertly realised in production where other companies might have failed. There is something mesmerising in the stillness and superficial simplicity of this show. Yet, conversely there is high energy too because it is such a turbulent and emotional tale.
With an almost a televisual quality to the action, you will be drawn in to every gesture, every change of tone, every sigh. You will leave feeling reflective, surprised and fulfilled.
Thank you to Tina Swain and her team for this emotional theatrical experience.
