After what might be called a last-minute change, the Driftwood Players will open their summer production Friday.
Instead of the originally scheduled “Orphans,” the July show will be “Love Letters,” a Reader’s Theatre piece written by A.R. Gurney. It will run every Friday and Saturday through the end of July.
The change was made after sparse auditions resulted in casting only two of the three major characters in “Orphans.”
“We basically didn’t have enough people try out who had enough talent to pull off the role,” said director Ben Hohman. “We felt that if we tried to put it on without three solid people, we wouldn’t be able to give the audience what they deserve.”
In “Love Letters,” Andrew Makepeace Ladd III and Melissa Gardner are childhood friends who exchange letters from the time they’re 7 or 8 years old through their college years and beyond. Andy goes on to excel at Yale and law school, while Melissa flunks out of a series of “good schools.” She continues to keep in touch with Andy as he goes to war, marries, becomes a successful attorney and eventually is elected to the U.S. Senate.
Meanwhile, her marriage in tatters, she dabbles in art and gigolos, drinks and becomes estranged from her children. Andy’s last letter, written to her mother after Melissa’s untimely death, makes it eloquently clear how much they meant and gave to each other over the years.
This is a Reader’s Theatre piece, which means there are no elaborate sets or costumes. In this case, it will be just two people seated at a writing table, speaking the words their characters have written to each other.
“It’s not like they have to memorize lines and chase around slamming doors or anything crazy like that,” said Hohman. “They come on and they read the letters … and the audience gets to go on the journey with the characters over time.”
Susan and Jim Patrick, a couple from Olympia, will take the stage for Friday’s opening.
Jim Patrick had intended to co-direct “Orphans” with Hohman, but when that fell through he suggested doing “Love Letters,” according to Hohman. The Patricks had performed it in the past, and Driftwood had presented it back in 2004; so they presented that change at Driftwood’s June board meeting, and it was approved.
After the Patricks debut the piece on Friday, Julayne Fleury and Jerrod Phelps will play the parts on Saturday. Then, on July 13-14, Terry Rogers and Dave Foscue will perform both nights. After that, it’s Juel Giglio and Jeff Ryser for July 20-21, and Angel Howard and Jeff Rockwell will close the run July 27-28.
Curtain time is is 7:30 p.m. for all shows. Hohman noted the script includes some minor swearing and talk about sex, so it’s probably not appropriate for young children.
Tickets are available for $15 at AberdeenDriftwood.com. They also may be purchased in advance at City Center Drug in Aberdeen, Harbor Drug in Hoquiam, Valu Drug in Montesano, and Dolores’ and Fay’s in Ocean Shores.
Anyone who already bought tickets for “Orphans” may exchange them at those outlets, or send them to Sue Keltner at 710 First Ave., Aberdeen 98520, to exchange them — either for tickets to “Love Letters” or for gift tickets to use in the future. For questions about exchanges, contact Keltner at 360-532-8243 or jlkeltner2@gmail.com.
