A tale of love, woe and understanding comes to Gloucester Stage for two weeks in the David Hare's "The Breath of Life."

"It's a beautiful, contemplative play about life's choices, two women in their 60s who shared a man for many years, one as a wife and one as a lover. They reflect on where their choices have led them," said director Eric Engel. "It's a drama but with a lot of light moments, too."

In a London production, Dame Judi Dench played the lover, and Dame Maggie Smith played the wife.

The Gloucester Stage show stars two acclaimed actresses, Paula Plum and Rockport's Nancy Carroll, in this intimate portrait of two women who were never intended to meet.

"It's exciting to have these two women together on the Gloucester Stage. They are our very own 'Dames,' " said Engel, also the Gloucester Stage artistic director. "This is a play that every woman will want to see and that every man should see."

The show runs today through Aug. 2.

"What's so beautiful about this piece is what it's not," said Engel. "These two women meet and start to see their lives through each other's eyes. There are some tough moments but it's a search for understanding more than anything else. The play also is set against a historical backdrop about what has transpired since the 1960s. There are references to the civil rights moment, Martin Luther King Jr. and gentrification."

The character played by Plum is a writer, which brings another level to the play in the discussion of what is fiction versus nonfiction and what is it people are looking for in writing today.

Hare, born in 1947, is a British award-winning playwright who has had 10 plays produced on Broadway. He has a 35-year association with the National Theatre in London, which has presented 13 of his plays. His feature films include "Plenty" with Meryl Streep, "Strapless Damage," and "The Hours" with Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman and Julianne Moore.

A limited number of discount tickets for Cape Ann residents are available at certain shows. For reservations or further information, call the Gloucester Stage Box Office at 978-281-4433 or visit www.gloucesterstage.org.

Master guitar event

Gloucester Stage announces the return of a special fundraising event, "Celebrating The Guitar II" on Tuesday, July 28, at 7:30 p.m. featuring master guitar maker Ken Parker and acclaimed guitarist John Hart.

During the event, Parker will talk about guitar design, his innovative electric fly and his new archtop acoustic guitar. Hart will play a solo concert of music designed to complement Parker's revolutionary guitars. Parker will bring a variety of his acoustic and electric guitars for Hart to play. Parker's guitars have been played by Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, Pops Staples, Joe Walsh and Reeves Gabrels among many others, and have been showcased at the Smithsonian and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

Hart has been a fixture on the New York music scene for the past 25 years, as a recording artist, bandleader and sideman. Hart is known for his ease at negotiating the demands of any idiom, from mainstream to improvisation, blues and funk. He has appeared on over 80 CDs as a sideman, and performed at major jazz festivals and clubs internationally.

Parker and Larry Fishman founded Parker Guitars in 1991, and established their factory in Massachusetts, where they produced about 30,000 guitars and basses. In 2003, U.S. Music purchased Parker Guitars, and moved production to the Chicago area.

"As an instrument maker, my goal has always been to build the most sensitive, responsive, and versatile guitars I can," said Parker, who built his first archtop guitar in 1976. "Although I went on to build and develop other kinds of tools for musicians, I've always felt the calling to return to my first inspiration, my first love, the acoustic archtop guitar."

For tickets and more information, call the box office at 978-281-4433 or visit www.gloucesterstage.org.

Gail McCarthy may be contacted at gmccarthy@gloucestertimes.com.