Jordan Sobel and Maggie Lou Rader. Photo Courtesy of John Jones

In the age of cell phones and dating apps, it’s easy to forget how finding love used to be totally different. How communicating and building a relationship with another person couldn’t be done with the typing of a text message or the snapping of a selfie. Finding love had to happen organically, from either, gulp, actually speaking to someone in real life or perhaps through a pen and paper. Florida Studio Theatre (FST) explores this dynamic through the latest play in their Summer Mainstage Series, Dear Jack, Dear Louise. This epistolary play from Ken Ludwig chronicles the relationship of his parents, who first met through writing letters to each other during World War II.

“Dear Jack, Dear Louise is a love letter by Ken Ludwig who wrote it because it's how his parents met. They met writing love letters to one another at the very beginning of WWII,” says Richard Hopkins, Producing Artistic Director and CEO of FST. “His father was a Captain and surgeon in the U.S. Army stationed first in Oregon and later shipped abroad. The woman in the play who would later become Ken’s mother was an aspiring actress in New York.”

The play, which is directed by FST veteran Kristen Clippard, is an epistolary work–the piece is told entirely in the form of letters, which play out like conversations between the characters of Jack Ludwig and Louise Rabiner. As the story progresses, the main antagonist becomes the war itself, an entity that threatens to destroy Jack and Louise’s relationship before the two even have the chance to meet in real life.

“What I love about this play is that it shows how things change and how they stay the same. How love has stayed the same, but the way we fall in love and communicate with one another has changed so significantly since WWII–back then people were using letters to communicate, now they just go on their computers or cell phones,” says Hopkins. “Letters back then, however, I think allowed for a little deeper communication. When you get into this play, you find out wow, the things they’re talking about are really pretty significant. It’s a great piece and a true love letter of a play.”

Jordan Sobel and Maggie Lou Rader. Photo Courtesy of John Jones

For tickets, click here: