Dear Jack, Dear Louise by Ken LudwigThe Arcola, 24 Ashwin Street, Dalston, London E1 | until 2 May 2026 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review by William Russell

Photo credit: Alec Brenner

Dear Jack, Dear Louise

by Ken Ludwig

The Arcola, 24 Ashwin Street, Dalston, London E1 | until 2 May 2026

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review by William Russell

“One for Aunt Edna very well performed.”

Tissue paper thin this two hander by Ken Ludwig is a play about two pen pals, Jack, actually Jacob, a doctor serving in the army, and Louise, an aspiring actress living in New York, who become pen pals. Their parents have met, decided it would be nice if their respective offspring corresponded although quite why the parents of a shy but nice son should think she is right for a Jewish boy is not at all clear. But they do. The problem is that Jack cannot get leave – it is 1940, wartime, and he is kept busy with patients – while she is looking for work. When eventually he does get leave she has landed her big break and is tied down in a nationwide tour of Hellzapoppin'. And so, it goes on and on and on until the interval by which time she has visited his family, met his twelve fearsome aunts and survived an attempt to throw her out of a bedroom window by his homicidal sister. Then he gets sent abroad, copes with D-Day, is missing in action, and she is distraught but the war ends, he has survived, and they meet in Times Square along with mobs of people celebrating peace – this is not a plot spoiler because it is obvious from the start that this is what will happen. Apparently, it did happen because it is based on Ludwig's parents who met as pen pals but not as people until the end of the war. As to what the shy and uptight Jack does, well wait and see. It has been inventively directed by Simon Reade and he gets very good performances from Preston Nyman as the nerdish Jack, and Eva Feiler as the stubborn Louise, who aspires to more than being in the chorus and directs the course of their correspondence as firmly as can be although why she uses a quill pen in 1940 is anybody's guess. As the pair never meet but have to act in their own bubbles this requires a director to find ways of making some sort of contact between them start to exist as the letters, which are all quite short, get read, which Reade manages to do. The play works well as undemanding, sentimental fodder for a hopefully well-fed audience even if it is far too long. Cut to ninety minutes with no interval it would be far more effective especially because nothing in the first half leaves one wanting to stay to see the second half. The action, such as it is however, is backed by an attractive selection of rather good songs sung by some canaries of the time – deciding who they are keeps one listening when the play sags – and even if the chemistry between Jack and Louise seems unlikely to exist one does sit there hoping they will meet even if it is to say hello and goodbye. The play received warm reviews last year when it was staged off Broadway so perhaps it is a case of horses for courses. It is very well directed, very well performed and, even if the material is as flimsy as can be, Aunt Edna would almost certainly think it wonderful.

Cast

Preston Nyman – Jack

Eva Feiler – Louise

Creatives

Director – Simon Reade

Designer – Robert Innes Hopkins

Lighting Designer – Richard Williamson

Sound Designer – Jamie Lu

Choreographer – Sam Spencer Lane

Accent Coach – Aundrea Fudge

Costume Supervisor Katherine Watt