MEDIA RELEASE — FOR IMMMEDIATE RELEASE — 24 JANUARY 2023
It is with regret that Canberra Repertory Society (REP) announces the cancellation of Play One in its 2023 Season, Agnes of God, due to illness.
“It is always very unfortunate for a theatre company to find themselves in this position,” says REP President, Antonia Kitzel, “but the health of our people comes first, so we made the difficult decision to cancel this production of Agnes of God. We thank all the creatives who have contributed to the production up to this point and look forward to future opportunities to work with everyone again.”
Not to be deterred by a challenge, REP quickly sought and secured the rights to A.R. Gurney’s Love Letters, which will be presented in a truncated season from 15–26 March 2023, directed by Kate Blackhurst.
“We didn’t want to lose our first season, if we could help it,” Kitzel says, “so when the idea for Love Letters came up, council quickly agreed it was an achievable production given the tight timeframe for casting, rehearsals, and putting a quality production on stage for our audience. It’s a beautiful story with very human moments that people will relate to themselves or recognise in someone they know.”
Love Letters is a story of life-long love told through letters that two people write each other over the course of fifty years. Their connection is almost completely created by the movement of their pens as they write themselves into a world where their relationship lives in their letters.
“While Love Letters seems simple — two actors, sitting at a table, each with their letters in front of them — it is a testament to the craft and talent of the actors who take on these roles,” says Kitzel, “There is something special about this deceptively simple production that keeps the stars, and audiences, coming back.”
Past productions of the play have seen big-name stars, often real-life couples, take on the roles. It has attracted the talents of Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks; Sally Field and Bryan Cranston; Candice Bergen and Alan Alda; Kathleen Turner, Blythe Danner, Stockard Channing, Martin Sheen, Christopher Reeve, Christopher Walken, George Segal… the list goes on.
