Ken Ludwig has written a jewel-like comedy romance that is simple, straightforward, and totally engaging. The burgeoning romance between a young Army doctor in Oregon and a wannabe actress in Manhattan is told exclusively through letters that the couple write, obsessively, committedly, through a fraught period of history: the Second World War is happening round their ears. Louise (Eva Feiler) seems almost totally ignorant of events, and Jack (Preston Nyman) speaks of them sparingly, unwilling to divert attention from their flirtatious plans. There would be a meet-cute, but things conspire to prevent a meeting of any kind. The letters is what they have.
The intrusion of events into their lives is exceptionally well done. The moment when Jack, a Jewish doctor, discusses the wartime occupation of some of his German POW patients, is chillingly understated, and is put into important context by his doctor’s responsibility to his patients. He may detest what they have done, but that doesn’t alter his efforts to fix them when they are broken. It’s a throwaway line in a letter about her acting career, and it’s subtle enough to be ignored, but it is telling. It goes to making Jack admirable as well as engaging.
The brio and energy of the two actors, particularly the bouncy Louise, makes them easy to like, and the superb direction – two actors in rooms either side of the stage, who never meet or even have eye-contact throughout the two-hour play, and yet are constantly in touch and always dynamic. It’s a tough set-up to make work, but work it does, effortlessly and appropriately. The choreographed sequences when the couple move in sync but never touch, is beautifully achieved.
It sometimes seems that describing a play as simple and charming is dismissive, but that isn’t the case with this elegant, charming play. Coming out into the world with a sense of their happiness is extremely rewarding, and quite uncommon.
Runs until 2nd May 2026.
Four Stars.
Reviewed by Chris Lilly.
Theatre, Art and Film Reviews 
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