ATLANTA -- Oglethorpe University presents a staged reading of A. R. Gurney’s Love Letters directed by senior Meredith McKay, from Lebanon, N.J. The funny, intimate and touching Love Letters tells the story of the relationship between a wealthy woman and a determined man through 50 years of letter writing. The readings, featuring a multigenerational cast, will occur September 29 through October 1 at 8:00 p.m. nightly in the Conant Performing Arts Center at Oglethorpe.

The cast of Love Letters includes senior Jesse Hinson of Gwinnett, sophomore Laura Callender of Stockbridge, cross country coach Bob Unger and assistant theatre professor Lee Knippenberg and her children, Liam and Charlotte.

McKay chose Love Letters after it was recommended to her by a former teacher. “After reading it, I believed the simplicity of the text and general beauty of the play appealed to me, as well as the logistics of it being a staged reading,” said McKay. “The play also deals with ‘white Anglo-Saxon America,’ which is a common theme for Gurney and is, to be frank, a relief from very heavy drama as Gurney tends to be more subtle in this particular play.”

McKay has previously appeared in Two Rooms, Fefu and Her Friends, The Dining Room and The Odyssey of Modesty Forth. She also designs and builds costumes, which have been featured at Oglethorpe in Fefu and Her Friends, The Actor’s Nightmare, The Odyssey of Modesty Forth, Falling Sickness and Crawlers. McKay has worked with Atlanta’s Synchronicity Theatre Group, Relativity Theatre of Concern and Atlanta Theatre Laboratory, which just completed its first run of True West at Oglethorpe.

Love Letters is presented as part of Oglethorpe’s Arts & Ideas fall season. The Fall 2005 Arts & Ideas season includes Focus on Realism: The Permanent Collection, on display at the Oglethorpe University Museum of Art; a lecture on Ritual in Theatre: Why Study the Classics? by Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence Dr. Miroslaw Kocur; W. A. Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte presented by the Capitol City Opera Company; two productions by Eric Bass’s Sandglass Theater; two harpsichord concerts by David Buice; Conversations with Directors: Caryl Churchill’s Futuristic Dramas, in co-operation with 7 Stages; the University Singers and University Chorale Fall Concert; and, to close the season, Oglethorpe’s annual Boar’s Head Ceremony and Holiday Concert.

For date, time and location information, visit www.oglethorpe.edu (keyword: calendar). For additional information on the Arts & Ideas season or to sign up to receive our twice-a-year newsletter, contact Mark DeLong at 404.364.8447 or mdelong@oglethorpe.edu.

 

What: Love Letters by A. R. Gurney, directed by Meredith McKay
When: Thursday, September 29, through Saturday, October 1, at 8:00 p.m.
Where: Oglethorpe University’s Conant Performing Arts Center
Tickets: $5; free with Oglethorpe ID. For reservations, call 404-504-1074. Limited seating.