How do you cast six people in a two-person play? By having a pair of them perform on three consecutive weekends.
The shifting cast is among a few novel touches Juneau Ghost Light Theatre is featuring during its first full-length production of the season — A.R. Gurney’s stage play “Love Letters” — that debuts Friday night at McPhetres Hall. The play will also feature a different director and pre-show musician each weekend, and for the first time there will be two sign-language interpreters for the audience.
“Love Letters” features the two characters, Melissa and Andrew, reading letters written to each other over 50 years as they sit in their respective homes. That means the actors don’t have to memorize the script or stage antics, said Skiba Wuoti, the production’s assistant producer, said in an interview Friday.
“They are truly just meeting up two to three times before the production to read through,” she said. “In the production notes it is specified that this is not to be a rehearsed show, that this is supposed to be just kind of read through a few times so people get comfortable with the words and then performed in front of an audience. So that’s actually a part of what makes a show special.”
Roblin Davis rehearses Thursday evening for “Love Letters” at McPhetres Hall. (Photo by Max Rosen)
Aside from “least passing for a mature adult,” the three couples chosen to act in the play are notably distinct, Wuoti said. The first weekend features a married couple Elizabeth Pisel-Davis and Roblin Gray Davis; the second Leslie Ishii (Perseverance Theatre’s artistic director) and Bostin Christopher (host of KTOO’s “Juneau Afternoon”), and the third longtime performer Patricia Hull Lattime and Juneau state Sen. Jesse Kiehl.
“We kind of wanted to just ask as many people as we could who we thought would be a great fit for the role and also people who kind of bridge different partnerships that we have,” Wuoti said, noting as examples collaborative work JGHT has done with Perseverance and live theater readings broadcast on KTOO.
Kiehl, in an interview Friday, said he double-majored in politics and theater, and since then he’s performed on stage at Perseverance, Latitude 58 and with Juneau Dance Theatre. He also said he’s familiar with “Love Letters” because his wife was the producing director for the play at Latitude 58 several years ago.
“It’s really going to be fascinating to see three different sets of actors give the show their own interpretations,” he said.
The catch, Kiehl said, is he probably won’t watch the performances by others himself since “I’m hesitant to go watch somebody else’s performance right before I do mine because I really want to bring my own take on the character.”
The directors for the three weekends are Valorie Kissel, Terry Cramer and Kelsey Riker. Pre-show music will be performed individually on successive weekends by classical guitarist Josh Colosky, violinist Elena Levi and saxophonist Spencer Edgers.
Sign language interpretation will be provided by Anita Evans and Robin Brenner in the hope of luring some people with hearing impairments who might normally not attend such a play, Wuoti said.
“We’re working with Anita and Robin…to see if we can even reach for a little further into that community, especially for those Sunday performances that are that are pay-as-you-can, and figuring out if there is a way to kind of make it even more accessible, just really making sure that those folks feel invited,” she said.
Tickets for shows at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays are $25, and Sundays have a sliding-scale price of $10-$40 at the discretion of the purchaser, with a “pay-it-forward” option as part of that pricing, Wuoti said.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
