Engaging Correspondence

A dialogue between a relentless young woman and a famous, reclusive author plays out in endearing shades of human emotion as the Boulevard Theatre presents the local premiere of Victor L. Cahn's Roses in December.

Anne Miller stars as Carolyn Meyers, a graduate student working in the alumni office of Prescott College. The play opens as she is writing a letter to author Joel Gordon (David Ferrie) in an effort to engage him in a dialogue. Gordon is reluctant to do so at first, but gradually agrees to correspond with her by mail, resulting in a comic drama that plays out in letters between author and student.

Cahn has written an endless number of subtle details into the script that only those paying close attention will catch. Without those details the story is still charming, though it can be tiresome in places. Miller and Ferrie do an admirable job of drawing the audience into the details with fairly deft performances. Not merely reading letters back and forth, the two interact physically onstage as the letters engage their emotions.

Roses in December runs through Jan. 18.