Love and communication ...
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Jeanne Beckwith’s new play, “Love Letters Made Easy,” is at Lost Nation Theater Feb. 12-15. Photo by Kim Bent |
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Published: February 6, 2009
MONTPELIER – A gift to Roxbury playwright and Norwich University composition and theater Professor Jeanne Beckwith made her think "What a great title for a play!" It was a book from the Edwardian era, Gabrielle Rosetti's "Love Letters Made Easy." And in Beckwith's hands, what a great, funny, and satiric play it is. It plays at Lost Nation Theater, Thursday-Sunday, Feb. 12-15, presented by the Vermont Playwrights Circle as part of Winterfest '09. Rosetti's florid book taught the fine art of letter writing and social manners, including communication through the language of flowers, fans and gemstones. The book's concept and very formal language amused Beckwith, then got her to thinking about the lost art of interpersonal communication in the present day. What resulted? Her play, "Love Letters Made Easy," a comic romp through the promises, perils and pitfalls of love in today's electronic age. Eight actors play over two dozen characters in a dozen different situations. In Beckwith's clever and mordantly witty script we meet memorably eccentric characters who cope with an astonishing range of emotions inspired by love — with greatly varying circumstances and affectional preferences.
Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, and 2 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets are $15; call (802) 229-0492, or go online to www.lostnationtheater.org.
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