Mary Ellen Marzullo

A.R. Gurney's words need no embellishments to make this play touch the lives and hearts of the audience. This elegant and understated play spans the decades from right after World War II until today. It is a play about civility and passion, about how a long-term relationship lives, about success and failure, but above all about love.

This is love that everyone can recognize, because Gurney shows both the dark and glorious sides of love. Andrew Makepiece Ladd III and Melissa Gardner have known each other since second grade. We get to know them more intimately than most characters because Gurney uses their own words to portray their feelings toward each other and the lives they led.

Andy is scion to a New England family that embodied tradition, honor and duty. He climbs an almost predictable ladder to success only slipping twice on the way up.

Melissa is heiress to a fortune of very old money. Her life inter­twines with Andy's but never parallels it. She is the rebel, the wandering soul, the artist, and always Andy's Greek chorus of truth.

Both Andy and Melissa are strong characters. Neither dominates the other. Each enriches the other's life. They are people we know and recognize.