WAYNE – The performance of ‘Love Letters’ by A.R. Gurney will occur at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, August 7, at Bressler Park in Wayne. Ramsey Theatre on the Wayne State campus is the rainout location for Friday. On Saturday, August 8, the same show will be performed at Eaton Field in Wakefield. There’s a rainout plan in place for Saturday, but they hope for clear skies. The play will also be at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday. Wayne State College Assistant Professor of Theatre, Rusty Ruth, is the director. The Majestic Theatre in Wayne will sell drinks and snacks.
Adam Goos is the director of the Little Red Hen Theatre in Wakefield. He will be featured in this weekend’s show. Goos elaborated on some take-aways people will have after the performance of ‘Love Letters.’
“Really what we hope people take away from it is just a sense of remembrance and looking back at our own lives and toward the future,” Goos stated. “It’s really just a play about the connections you make in life and the choices you didn’t make in life, as much as the choices you did.”
The play centers around two characters who had much love for each other, even though they were never together. It entails the two characters reading 50 years-worth of notes sent to one another, from Kindergarten to their elder years. The notes describe all their successes and failures, and their ambitions and disappointments.
Both shows are based on free-will donations. Melissa Derechailo is one of two highlighted characters in the show. Additionally, she is the Music Instructor and Theatre Manager at Wayne State College. Derechailo described the beneficiaries of the donations.
“Donations for Friday will go toward the bench for Gwen Jenson’s Butterfly Garden, and then on Saturday, the free-will donations will go to the Little Red Hen Theatre,” Derechailo announced.
The garden is located outside of the Black Box Theatre at the Wayne State College campus. The garden commemorates Dr. Gwen Jensen, a former theatre professor at Wayne State. She grew up around the Wayne area. Dr. Jensen recently passed away. Here’s what the garden looks like…
Adam Goos had a message for those that need a reason to get out of the house and he encouraged COVID-19 health measures.
“To come be outside with other people where you can still have the same shared experience, but be in an environment that, at this point in time, feels safe I think is an important thing,” Goos proclaimed. “We would encourage people to come and bring a mask to social distance to make everyone feel comfortable, but to come and just enjoy the art.”
Derechailo and Goos noted that they’ve enjoyed working together. As far as the future, well both entities are waiting to hear updated Directed Health Measures (DHMs) for the fall.
Make sure to bring blankets or chairs to sit on, that goes for both locations. It should be noted that the two stars described the show as PG-13.
For more information, follow the Little Red Hen Theatre on Facebook, or visit their website at https://www.littleredhentheatre.com/.