Love Letters Past
Love Letters
ZippySaid’s third production was a crowd-pleaser. A.R. Gurney’s 1989 Pulitzer-finalist play Love Letters touched all who saw it. Deborah Shaw as Melissa, and David Agro as Andy, brought to life the 50 years of handwritten correspondence between these two endearing characters. Here are excerpts from the reviews:
A View form the Box
The staging of Love Letters was beautifully emblematic of the two writers [Melissa and Andy]. …Before the characters even enter the stage, we have some idea of who they are and what their letters are going to be like. David Agro and Deborah Shaw bring their undeniable chemistry to Love Letters… Agro gives Andy a reserved yet passionate air; his personality shines through his letters and Agro embodies it fully. …[Shaw’s] Melissa is beautifully tragic; a portrait of an artist constantly at war with herself and the demons which haunt her from her childhood. Shaw gives Melissa a vivacity which makes you know this lady is the life of any party. In the final moments, they both deliver heartbreaking performances…
Istan Reviews
Deborah Shaw and David Agro (who also directs) have cozied up to the material, honouring the subtleties of emotion in their correspondence, conveying the ebb and flow of their dynamic, without indulging in overt theatrics. They don’t even look at each other, they just read their letters for us, for each other, for themselves… While conveying the fatigue of later years, Shaw retains Melissa’s girlish persona throughout. She’s spontaneous, mischievous, provoking and petulant—always charismatic, until life pushes her over a line. By contrast, Agro’s Andy seems slightly detached in his gentility. He’s warm, subtly guarded, and only properly expresses the depth of his feeling when it is too late. The design elements are sparing, but purposeful. Each is seated at a small desk which seems to be an extension of their personae… The post cards, calendars and assorted memorabilia suspended as a stylized backdrop makes sense, but isn’t particularly necessary… Shaw and Agro, authentic and endearing, are more than enough.
The Slotkin Letter
Director David Agro has created a meticulous, moving production full of thought and detail… Deborah Shaw expresses Melissa’s irreverence with glee. There is wicked fun in this performance… And Shaw also illuminates Melissa’s more fragile moments, when she is spiraling downward. David Agro as Andy is proper, always contained, and mindful of acceptable behaviour. While both actors are not to look at one another, they do react to what each is reading of the other’s letters. The emotions are definitely there in these two fine performances. This production of Love Letters is funny, moving, engaging and heart-squeezing. It’s perfect for Valentine’s Day and any day before and after.
Our Theatre Voice
This Love Letters is a tender and compassionate production that touches the heart… This terrific production… offers an opportunity for reflection. The play invites us to consider how we continue to connect authentically with one another through the written word. And when it’s beautifully spoken and performed in front of an audience, the play still touches the heart forty years later. Go and see it.
Paula Citron
Happily, ZippySaid Productions has brought [Love Letters] back to Toronto, directed by David Agro and produced by Deborah Shaw, who also star in the show. Agro gives a fine performance—stiff, dogmatic, and restrained, yet filled with compassion and warmth. He takes delight in following the path of his forefathers, yet is filled with insecurities that he tries to hide. In Agro’s sensitive hands, we know that Andy is a good and decent man. …As the play progressed into adulthood, Shaw gave us a heartbreaking Melissa, trying to conquer her very bad choices, and failing at every turn. Love Letters is also a play about silences… It is within these silences…that both Agro and Shaw excel. Their expressive faces tell us exactly what they are feeling and thinking… The two actors also give us a strong rendering of the poignant ending to the play. Gurney would have been happy with just how moving it was.