Love and war. It seems they go together. Consider Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms, a romance set against the Italian campaign in World War I. Or consider Hemingway's third wife, Martha Gellhorn, a renowned war correspondent who covered every major conflict during her life time.

Gellhorn, with fellow female war correspondent Virginia Cowles, also wrote a romantic comedy, Love Goes to Press, about a pair of female journalists holed up in a press camp during World War II. Set in 1944, the play follows the adventures of Jane and Annabelle, characters loosely based on Cowles and Gellhorn, as they flirt then file while the bombs blast away.

It's really more of a farce, with screwball comedy leanings. The play was a huge hit in the United Kingdom when it premiered in 1946, but when it debuted on Broadway the same year? Not so much. The play ran for four days and earned the double distinction of being the first play and flop of the year.

America wasn't quite ready for love, war and comedy.

Houston theater audiences had better be, though, when Main Street Theater (MST) presents Love Goes to Press at its cozy Rice Village location on Times Boulevard. It will run Saturday through Dec. 23.

Udden discovers Gellhorn

The play first came to MST artistic director Rebecca Greene Udden's attention when it was revived by New York's Mint Theater Company, which specializes in bringing hidden gems of the theater back into the spotlight.

Udden readily admits that all she knew about Gellhorn was the Hemingway connection, though she now wonders, "Holy crap, how could I have missed this?"

"After I read about the play I thought, wow, that sounds tasty," quips Udden. Now on her third book by Gellhorn, she's up to speed.

"I'm always interested in plays by women. At least 50 percent of our season is by women. But we can't always present work by living women playwrights. We need the balance of classic plays by women too."

Gellhorn and Cowles knew next to nothing about the theater, never mind writing a play. They went to a play, timed it, got down the overall structure and thought, "This is a piece of cake."

They hoped it would make them some fast cash, which, sadly, it never did. Gellhorn wrote Jane's part while Cowles wrote Annabelle's. It was a true collaboration, and judging from Gellhorn's introduction to the play, they did a fare amount of cracking each other up. Neither went on to ever write another play, but each wrote numerous non-fiction books.

"She has such a great voice," says Udden about her newfound heroine Gellhorn. "She's so fearless and fierce."

Udden found herself captivated by Gellhorn's personal story — a woman who risked life and limb, then wrote a piece of fluffy war comedy.

The farce factor

"The play conjures up a style of American theater that has been sadly absent from our stages for too many years — snappy, intelligent dialogue couched within a charming romantic comedy that’s populated with delightful supporting characters, all set in a unique, compelling environment," says director Mark Adams, who is all about screwball style.

"It was a time for fast-talking, funny, savvy dames like Roz Russell, Barbara Stanwyck and Katharine Hepburn, who were always one step ahead of their men," Adams continues. "The men were witty, smooth operators like Cary Grant and Joel McRae, but they were usually trumped by the cleverness of their women, with plenty of complications along the way."

Adams knows his stuff, because this is exactly what happens in Love Goes to Press.

Period comedy is not so easy, according to Elissa Levitt, who plays Annabelle in the Houston play.

"It's lots of fun, yet also very difficult," Levitt says. "It takes a lot of focus and rehearsal to make sure that all the screwball moments run smoothly."

Crystal O'Brien, who plays Jane, is having a blast with the role.

"Annabelle and Jane are so quick-witted, and the pace is so fast. They drive the male characters crazy in a number of ways and definitely hold the power most of the show. Chemistry is important in this genre — the actors must play really well off of each other and, in particular, I think Elissa and I have a great time with this," says O'Brien.

"The male American war correspondents are really caricatures — the show is a farce that was meant to give audiences something to enjoy and a reason to laugh during such a hard period of time right after World War II," she continues. "Of course, farces are funny to watch when the characters take their outrageous predicaments seriously."

Classical love and war

Udden thinks long and hard before taking any play into the season, and each one has a story of how it got there.

"I'm not going to say that this play is exactly relevant today, although there is certainly a thread in a woman's place in the working world," she says. "It's a classic period comedy. We love those. It's simply great entertainment."

As for love and war, let's let Gellhorn and Cowles answer that question.

When Annabelle asks Jane, "How's your love life?" Jane replies, "Bad, I got slightly involved with a Frenchman in Tunis last summer, but then we invaded Sicily and I had to leave him."

Meet the real Martha Gellhorn: