“LOVE Letters” is one of the great stage vehicles, over the years, attracting actors in its starring roles like Elizabeth Taylor, Jerry Hall, Kathleen Turner, Christopher Reeve, Mel Gibson, Sissy Spacek, Stockard Channing, William Hurt, Christopher Walken, Carol Burnett and Lynn Redgrave.

It’s an exploration of a lifelong friendship between two people that became a Broadway hit and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for both its stellar lineup and the quality of the script.

Written by A.R. Gurney, it shows childhood friends, Melissa Gardner and Andy Ladd, born into wealthy New York families, who begin writing to each other with tentative holiday postcards, birthday invitations and thank you letters.

As they move on to boarding school, college and beyond, they stay in touch through a series of letters that explore their blossoming hopes for romance as well as their changing fortunes. Andy becomes a noted lawyer, while Melissa leaves a trail of controversy and school expulsions behind her, eventually becoming an artist.

Over 50 years of the bond remains unbreakable, even as he goes for the US Senate and she descends into trouble.

Now it’s coming to the Q, the Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre, in a production by Denny Lawrence that features real-life couple Hannah Waterman (EastEnders) and Huw Higginson.

“Love Letters,” at The Q, May 21-24, bookings to 6285 6290 or www.theq.net.au

“Exhilarating, funny and moving” The Wall Street Journal