A.R. Gurney’s underrecognized play, Later Life, is the Katonah Classic Stage’s newest production, now running through May 7.
The setting is 1993 on the penthouse terrace of a cocktail party in Boston. Austin (played by Thomas Jay Ryan) is a middle-aged divorced man who is likeable, polite, respectable, responsible, rooted, and successful. The hostess, Sally (Kelly McAndrew) reintroduces him to Ruth (Carolyn McCormick), a woman he met about 30 years ago in Capri while he was serving in the Navy, and she was traveling in Italy. He barely remembers her, but she sure remembers every detail about their brief time together.