ESU Group Dinner/Theatre Program

Event Recap

Kansas City ESU members and guests attended a Dinner/Theatre Group event on October 26, 2013.  Our ESU Board Member, Ben Martin, directed the play that, when first performed in 1988, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama—Love Letters, written by A.R. Gurney.  The story is based on written communications between two fictional characters who trace a lifetime together through the letters they exchanged over the years.  The story of their bittersweet relationship gradually unfolds from what is written—and what is left unsaid—in their letters.

Director Ben Martin commented about the play, "Love Letters by A.R Gurney is a unique way to tell a story.  Gurney has created two fascinating characters for us simply by letting us hear the words in the letters they write to each other.  It is almost like we are privy to information that we were not supposed to hear.  Sometimes it is funny, sometimes tragic, but always illuminating".

The play takes the English language on a roller coaster of emotions.  Critics applauded this drama when it debuted in New York City in 1988.  It was a smash hit on and off Broadway.  Eleven ESU members and guests attended the Dinner/Theatre production of Love Letters at a special event venue in Lee's Summit, Missouri. ESU members and guests had a wide range of feelings about the play and it seems that everyone reacted differently to the two characters in the play.  Pictured at left, ESU guest, Phyllis Hanson, described her emotions to the two actors, Chad Burris and Emily Davenport.

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