The Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett, a venue best known for live music, will host a performance of A.R. Gurney's play "Love Letters," starring Harris Yulin and Mercedes Ruehl, on Saturday at 7 p.m.
The play, first performed by the playwright and Holland Taylor in 1988, uses an epistolary form to tell a story of soulmates through the reading of their cards and letters written to each other.
Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepeace Ladd III, both born to wealthy families, are childhood friends. Though their lives physically diverge, they maintain a correspondence spanning a half-century and covering their hopes and ambitions, victories and disappointments, until they finally reunite, albeit briefly.
Ms. Ruehl has appeared in films including "The Fisher King," "Married to the Mob," and "Big," and on Broadway in the Pulitzer Prize-winning "The Shadow Box," "I'm Not Rappaport," and Neil Simon's "Lost in Yonkers," among others.
Mr. Yulin, who made his Off Broadway debut in "Next Time I'll Sing to You" with James Earl Jones and Estelle Parsons in 1963, has appeared in productions such as "Long Day's Journey Into Night" at the Court Theater in Chicago, "Death of a Salesman" at the Gate Theatre in Dublin, and "Hamlet" at the Classic Stage Company in New York. He is a regular performer and presenter at Guild Hall in East Hampton, appearing in "The Glass Menagerie" in 2009 and "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been" last year.
Half of the proceeds from Saturday's performance will benefit the Claire Lucido Fund, which supports sarcoma cancer research at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Additional donations will be accepted on Saturday. Ms. Lucido, Mr. Yulin's daughter, died last year.
"Harris has been a friend of the Talkhouse for many years and approached us about doing 'Love Letters' with Mercedes to benefit the Claire Lucido Fund," said Nick Kraus of the Talkhouse. "Though we are mainly known as a live music venue, over the years we have on special occasions done other forms of performance and entertainment. We look forward to doing this evening with Harris and Mercedes."
General admission tickets are $60, and V.I.P. tickets are $80. They are available at stephentalkhouse.com.
