Love Letters' boasts fine acting

The two actors are seated at a table, each reading their letters aloud. You soon see that there‘s no need for dramatic action on the stage - the story of their lives provides drama enough. The outstanding, spare script creates a unique, memorable evening of theater. And Beverly Bentley and Guy Strauss, both accomplished professional actors, are flawless as Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepeace Ladd III.

Bentley, who performed on live television shows in the 1950s, also has had roles on and off- Broadway and in films. A frequent participant in Cape theater, Bentley has teamed up with Strauss on this Gurney production several times.

Strauss, a year-round Truro resident since 1993, has more than 25 years of experience as an actor, director and producer. He, too, has a multitude of stage credits and has two coming television roles. As founder and artistic director of Payomet, he has brought a variety of productions to Truro.

This play absolutely requires such talented actors, as well as a fine director - in this case, Natalie Ross Miller. The script is so dependent on subtle inflections, turns of phrase, the perfect facial expression, that all would be lost with an indifferent performance.

The first letter we hear about is Andy‘s formal acceptance of an invitation to Melissa‘s birthday party. The two meet in second grade, and, at that time, letters were the proper form of RSVP. (How refreshing it was to linger awhile in that era, before e-mail, instant messaging and cell phones. The evening was a small oasis of civility and sensitivity.)

Melissa‘s early artistic tendencies surface when she admits she‘d rather draw Andy a picture than actually write words. Andy, meanwhile, says, “I feel most alive when I‘m sitting in a corner writing things."

Andy stays on the straight and narrow, almost always, and eventually becomes a lawyer, seeing laws as “the letters that civilization writes to itself." Melissa has a far more difficult time growing up and follows a winding path through her life. To say more would be unfair to those who haven‘t seen the play, which you need to see unfold, letter by letter.

Now in its eighth season, Payomet is presenting a variety of such one-night performances at its new home on the grounds of the Highlands Center.

Coming evenings will feature stand-up comic Barry Crimmins on Friday and Saturday and author Sebastian Junger on Aug. 30.