SUBMITTED PHOTO Sue and Paul Crawford star in “Love Letters,” a Readers Theater production brought by the Marshalltown Community Theatre. Ticket sale proceeds will go toward the purchase of a new bingo machine for the Marshalltown Senior Citizens Center.

Special Marshalltown Community Theater (MCT) performances of “Love Letters” will be held in the Orpheum as a fundraiser for the Marshalltown Senior Citizens Center.

Set as a Readers Theater, Sue Crawford will fill the role of Melissa, and her husband, Paul, will make his stage debut as Andrew. Premiering in 1988, “Love Letters” has been performed numerous times on and off Broadway.

“It’s been in dinner theaters and community theaters because it’s so unique to do,” Sue said. “It’s a minimal set, and you’re reading it. It doesn’t have to be acted out. There’s been some famous couples who have done it like Ryan O’Neal and Ally MacGraw, and actual married people like Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy.”

Rick Gooding is directing the production, and said the cast are going over the scripts at home.

“It’s about a couple aging, from their childhood when they met, through marriages, divorces, children, and they’re still in love with each other even though they sometimes don’t want to admit it,” he said. “We thought that was great for the Senior Citizens Center.”

Since it is a readers theater, not as many rehearsals are necessary. They will do a “run through” on March 5 and a tech rehearsal on March 6.

This is not Gooding’s first readers theater ride. Last year he directed the Sept. 11 “110 Stories” play.

“We’re going to redo it again this September, as it’s the 25th anniversary of 9/11,” Gooding said.

Nicki Reynolds, the Senior Citizens Center director, said funds raised from the readers theater will help pay for a new bingo machine. “Love Letters” producer Lisa Naig said they met at a December luncheon, and Reynolds talked about the desire to get a new machine.

“I thought, ‘Hey, how about we do a collaboration?'” Naig said. “We get to do ‘Love Letters’ and they get some funding from the readers theater. That’s where it all started.”

According to Reynolds, one of the most popular activities is bingo and it brings a lot of people together.

“When local organizations support one another, everyone benefits,” Reynolds said. “This isn’t just fundraising. It’s also relationship building, which I love.”

Bingo is not just a fun game, but also is about laughter and friendship and something the center’s members look forward to, she said. The center holds a bingo game every week.

A new machine would cost around $7,000. A grant of $3,300 from the Assistance League was given for the purchase of a new machine, which Reynolds thinks will make the games smoother, more accessible and more enjoyable. The machine in the center right now was made in the 1970s, and is being held together with a hair tie, she said, laughing.

“Our senior population continues to grow and programs like bingo provide structure, social interaction and cognitive stimulation,” Reynolds said. “So, investing in something as simple as a bingo machine is really an investment in the quality of life. We’re super excited to partner with the Marshalltown Community Theater.”

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Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.