‘Love Letters’ opens June 10 at Stage Coach

DeKALB – Two dear friends correspond with each other over many years in Stage Coach Players’ Black Box production of “Love Letters.”

The A. R. Gurney drama will runs for one weekend starting June 10.

Directed by Scott Montavon, who last directed “Young Frankenstein” several years ago, “Love Letters” focuses on the correspondence between Andrew Makepeace Ladd III and Melissa Gardner, who are childhood friends. Their writing begins with birthday party thank-you notes and summer camp postcards. Though each are romantically attached, they continue to exchange letters through the boarding school and college years and into adulthood. The two didn’t always like each other but always loved one another.

Montavon said one of the big takeaways of the popular play is that it is possible for two people to love each other no matter what time or distance and life does to them.

It’s been awhile since the cast and crew of “Love Letters” have performed at Stage Coach Theatre. Bonnie Miller, who plays Melissa Gardner, hasn’t performed at Stage Coach since “Noises Off” during the summer of 2019.

“I did a few plays on Zoom during the pandemic, and it’s just not the same when you can’t hear or see the audience,” she said in a news release. “I’ve really enjoyed getting to know these characters in ‘Love Letters’ and their complex relationship, and I can’t wait to share it with our audiences.”

Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. June 10-12 and 2 p.m. June 13. Tickets cost $5 each and are available by calling the box office at 815-758-1940. Tickets also will be available at the door.

For this production, guests are asked to wear a mask while in the theater. Seating will be in groups of no more than four to promote social distancing. For questions about COVID-19 mitigations, call the box office.