A Little Perfume With Your Return Address

THEATER

Love Letters

by A.R. Gurney

directed by Kimberly Flynn

at the Eliot house Library

Apri 29, 7 and 10 p.m., 30 at 8 p.m.

Every night at a pre-scheduled time, forlorn swains and pining maidens fill the Science Center basement to e-mail their loved ones at other colleges or back at home. Bathed in the unearthly glow of the monitor screens, they are oblivious to the furious click-clack of the keyboard as Internet connects them to their faraway, spiritual halves. Yet somehow, this mode of communication seems to lack a true personal touch, a romantic passion. Perhaps it is the constant, invasive hum of the terminals and the harsh florescent lights. Or the horde of computer hacker sitting in the other seats. In any case, Eliot House Drama Society's production of Love Letters attempts to retrieve that missing element. Its response to the modern malaise is the resurrection of a lost art, the practice of real letter-writing.

The play follows the ongoing correspondence of Melissa Gardner (Wendy Coleman) and Andrew Makepeace Ladd III (Justin Levitt). Through a series of letters, postcards and notes, a complex relationship unfolds, beginning in the second grade and continuing all the way through adulthood. Trading the Science Center basement for cozier Eliot House library, the play creates an intimate atmosphere with minimal props and preparation. In fact, the story requires little other than the dark wood-paneling and aristocratic leather armchairs of the library to conjure up the upper-crust backgrounds of the two characters.

The simplicity of the setting focuses the attention instead on the main attraction of Love Letters, A.R. Gurney's script. With a natural flow, the dialogue manages of balance emotional intensity with a wry touch of humor. Hidden behind the polished veneer of perfunctory thank-you notes, the characters' lines express much more than their surface meaning.

Since the play limits itself to the indirect interaction through letters, the characters cannot depend on actions or gestures to help convey the varying depth and quality of their feelings. Both Coleman and Levitt give convincing performances and maximize the impact of each line of the script through careful attention to their tone and inflections in speech. Coleman manages to portray a seven-year-old princess, promiscuous teenager, and troubled, jaded socialite all in succession. Occassionally, she borders on emotional excess; for example, the repeated emphasis on her despicable stepfather's name seems overdone and jarring. But overall, her charged voice effectively reveals the joy, pain, and depression that Melissa experiences.

Levitt also plays his role with sencerity. He acts with a wide-eyed earnestness that matches the boyish naivete of Andy. Andy is the one who loves to write letters and insists that the more reluctant to write letters and insists that the more reluctant Melissa do the same. According to Andy, letters allow him to give a part of his thoughts and feelings away completely. They are the most unselfish way to show his feelings.

Phone conversations and face-to-face meetings, although real and tangible for the moment, leave nothing behind. Once the receiver is placed back into its cradle, or the other person steps onto the departing train, there is little proof of the encounter. Letters, on the other hand, once received cannot be undone. The letter writer might expose too much or too little. The recipient is in danger of interpreting incorrectly.

Yet, as Andy claims, the willingness to take this kind of risk for another person makes letter-writing satisfying and worthwhile. Love Letters should induce a few of those modern couples to put aside their e-mail accounts in exchange for an old-fashioned love letter.