A.R. Gurney’s two-hander gets a fresh take with rotating local couples at Breckenridge Backstage Theatre.

Sometimes, love doesn’t conquer all. Egos, travel, work and other people — namely parents and love interests — get in the way. Such is the case between Andrew and Melissa, the two characters in Love Letters. Often staged around Valentine’s Day, the current production at the Breckenridge Backstage Theatre proves no one month can lay claim to the topic of love.

Andrew revels in hand-writing letters and begins with sending Melissa a thank-you note in second grade after being invited to the wealthy girl’s birthday party. She hates writing, but an attraction perhaps she doesn’t even understand compels her to respond — sometimes on and off — for about 50 years. What unfolds is a tender, heartbreaking and poignant look at how timing is often everything when it comes to romantic love.

Written by A.R. Gurney in 1989, the script is just as relevant as it was before the internet — especially with modern dating profiles, social media and texting. This becomes all the more apparent at times when the couple meets in person and just doesn’t hit it off.

Part of what’s appealing about Love Letters is its bare-bones quality. Two actors sit at desks, reading from the actual script. There’s no backdrop, fancy lighting or props. In fact, the actors don’t even look at one another; each sits at their own desk, simply reading letters back and forth.

While this method could seem dry, it’s quite the opposite. It allows audiences to flex their imaginations in ways usually not demanded in performances. Rather than seeing the couple meet, travel the world, get married to other people, fall into addiction or otherwise carry on with their lives, we hear apologies and perhaps some explanation — or even prolonged silence when not wanting to honestly express themselves — through correspondence.

Lost arts

While Love Letters revolves around one lost art — that of longhand letter writing — it also pleasantly demands audiences to exercise another lost art: that of deep listening and filling in the blanks with rich scenes. We must conjure visuals of both of them looking over one another’s backs, as if searching for the “real” and alluring person who shows up in the letters but apparently not in person during a college visit. We must “see” the birthday party, boarding school, the spouses, the kids, the achievements and failures. With each written detail, Gurney makes it gratifying to participate in this way.

Another twist comes in the form of just how Love Letters is rendered. Gurney didn’t want actors to memorize the dialogue; he required them to read from the script, or the “letters,” placing each aside once spoken. When it opened with Kathleen Turner and John Rubenstein at the Off-Broadway Promenade Theatre, it only ran on Sundays and Mondays, and rather than sticking with well-known stars, it actually changed casts weekly for the 64 shows. It moved onto Broadway that same year for 96 performances with Lynn Redgrave and John Clark; Stockard Channing and John Rubinstein; and Timothy Hutton and Elizabeth McGovern rotating through parts.

Local talent

The Backstage Theatre’s production follows the same format, with new couples — some married in real life and some not — performing on different nights. It’s part of the theatre’s annual community show, featuring local actors living in Summit County. That means every night is fresh and subtly new — and it makes the performances more vulnerable and raw as opposed to overly polished. Couples practice for just two hours with director Jacqueline Stone providing some tips before their night on stage.

I saw it opening night, with actress Rebekah O’Connor and her filmmaker husband, John O’Connor. Rebekah brought her dramatic acting skills to the reading, and both brought on tears and a bit of laughter when called for — don’t be mistaken, even tragic love has its moments of humor. John also delivers a moving passage about his character’s love of writing.

As a Pulitzer Prize finalist for Drama, the play does end with a doozy. And yet, it resonates with a bittersweet quality, reminding audiences that this human life is at times complicated and painful, and sometimes, it takes an earthshattering experience to learn about the true power of love.