Braddock, Buckner bring heartwarming play to life
“Love Letters” by A.R. Guerney Jr. opens Thursday, Oct. 23 at Richmond Community Theatre in downtown Rockingham.
A Richmond Community Theatre photo
The play is a unique and imaginative theatre piece comprised of letters exchanged over a lifetime between two people who grew up together, went their separate ways, but continued to share confidences. What is created is an evocative, touching, frequently funny but always telling pair of character studies in which what is implied is as revealing and meaningful as what is actually written down.
Andrew Makepeace Ladd III and Melissa Gardner, both born to wealth and position, are childhood friends whose life- long correspondence begins with birthday party thank-you notes and summer camp postcards. They continue to exchange letters through the boarding school and college years. While Andy is off at war, Melissa marries, becomes a successful attorney, gets involved in politics and, eventually, is elected to the U.S. Senate. Through their letters it is clear how much they really meant, and gave to, each other over the years — physically apart, perhaps, but spiritually as close as only true lovers can be.
The production opens Oct. 23 and runs through Nov. 1. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday performances are at 8 p.m. One Sunday matinee will be offered, Oct. 26, at 2 p.m. Single tickets are $12. The box office is open Oct. 20 through Nov. 1f rom 12:30 p.m.m to 5:30 p.m. Call 910-997-3765 for tickets and reservations.
Season tickets are still available for this season. Season tickets are a terrific deal only $25 per ticket. At $25 a ticket, the final show of the season will only cost each season ticket holder $1. Individual tickets for all of the shows this year may also be purchased online.
Love Letters’s cast is will surely delight RCT’s audience: Jason Buckner portrays Andrew Makepeace Ladd III. And Emily Braddock plays Melissa Gardner Cobb.
Last season, Braddock delighted audiences with the supermarket monologue about “Elvis in All the King’s Women.” Buckner has returned to the stage after a 30-year hiatus. Audiences may not remember him from his Young People’s Theatre debut back then, but they will surely enjoy this first performance of his on the main stage.
Ricmond Community Theatre is a 501c3 organization working together in conjunction with the city of Rockingham. The theatre is located at 109 E. Washington St. Rockingham. RCT was established in 1977 and is the fifth oldest community theatre in operation in North Carolina.
