With Love from the Urban Heritage Committee

The Urban Heritage Committee is proud to bring you Love Letters, one of the longest running plays in history, starring Shernaz Patel and Rajit Kapur at the Asiatic Library’s Durbar Hall on Friday, April 26, 2019. Donor passes are available with the Rotary office at Rs 2,000 per pass.

DID YOU KNOW?

Playwriter A. R. Gurney first read out Love Letters himself, with his friend, actress Holland Taylor, in the ’80s. The play officially opened in 1988, starring Tony winner John Rubinstein (Children of a Lesser God) and Tony winner Joanna Gleason (Into the Woods).

It opened in New York on March 27, 1989, featuring Oscar nominee Kathleen Turner (Body Heat) and John Rubinstein.

More than 50 actors of all ages signed on for limited engagements of Love Letters, including Stockard Channing, Swoosie Kurtz, Christopher Walken, Edward Hermann, Joan Van Ark, Christopher Reeve, John Clark and Joseph Sommer. Actor Tom Hanks and his partner the actress Rita Wilson have enacted it for charity.

After 96 performances on Broadway, Love Letters closed on January 21, 1990 — but the love affair wasn’t over. From local actors to Alec Baldwin, everyone wanted to perform the play. Engagements mounted with Sigourney Weaver and Jeff Daniels (2007), Charlton Heston and Jean Simmons (1991), Elizabeth Taylor and James Earl Jones (2007) and The Daily Show’s Samantha Bee and Jason Jones (2010). The play was adapted in India into Tumhari Amrita starring Farooque
Shaikh and Shabana Azmi. It toured throughout Europe, the United States and Pakistan.

Since its return in 2014, Love Letters has had limited appearances by Carol Burnett, Alan Alda, Candice Bergen, Stacy Keach, Diana Rigg, Anjelica Huston, Martin Sheen, Mia Farrow and Brian Dennehy.