‘Love Letters’ gets the Tillamook stamp of approval
Love at every stage will be portrayed in a performance of A.R. Gurney’s Pulitzer Prize nominated play, “Love Letters” at the Tillamook Association for the Performing Arts on Saturday and Sunday, July 27 and 28.
The basis of this theater piece are letters exchanged over a lifetime between two people who grew up together and went their separate ways but continued to share confidences. As the actors read the letters aloud, an evocative, touching and frequently funny story arises.
"You cannot stage a play more simply than this, and yet it’s about everything in life,” said director and actor Mike Arseneault. “First love, loss of opportunities, loss of life, loss of love...It’s a beautiful play, and all you do is speak it.”
The play stars Arseneault as Andrew and Shay Knorr as Melissa.
Arseneault has performed in more than 100 musicals, plays and revues in Toronto, Portland and on the Oregon Coast. He has acted in performances of “Into The Woods,” “Guys and Dolls,” “Annie” and “The Secret Garden” to name a few. In 2020, he founded his own theater organization, IOCO Players Theatre, just outside Vancouver, B.C.
Knorr has been acting since she was young. At the age of 10, she filled in for a sick friend in a play. She had one line, the audience laughed and she has been on stage ever since. She has performed in theater companies and improv groups and has worked in commercials, television and radio in both Portland and Los Angeles. After 30 years as a commercial producer, director and playwright, she started her own story telling group, Solo Speak.
“Love Letters” contains language and themes intended for mature audiences. It will evoke plenty of laughter but bring a tissue or two.
Each show will include a fifteen minute intermission and will run about two hours in total.
Performances begin at 7 pm on Saturday and 2 pm on Sunday at TAPA’s Barn Community Playhouse, located at 1204 Ivy Avenue. For more information or to purchase tickets, go to tillamooktheater.com or call 503-812-0275.