“Love Letters” is one of those plays that has become a staple of the theater world. Since its 1989 off-Broadway debut with Kathleen Turner and John Rubinstein, this two-person piece written by A.R. Gurney has attracted pretty much every well-known actor or actress out there, from Alan Alda and Candice Bergen to Ali MacGraw and Ryan O’Neal.

You can see the appeal: because the performers sit and read from scripts, they don’t have to put in time to memorize lines or learn blocking. And the drama is a real crowd-pleaser about two characters who write letters to each other over five decades, detailing their lives, their aspirations, their setbacks, and their friendship that sometimes veers into the romantic.

Tony Dow, who played Wally Cleaver on “Leave it to Beaver,” will star in “Love Letters” with his wife, Lauren, on Sunday at the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center.

Dow, now 72, is still acting, obviously, but he also became a director years ago. His credits include “Babylon 5,” “Coach” and “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.”

“Love Letters,” 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday, Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, 300 Main St., Old Saybrook; $38; (860) 510-0453.