Love and Information

Love and Information is a play written by the British playwright Caryl Churchill. It first opened at the Royal Court Theatre in September 2012. The play is a compilation of seven sections each with a number of scenes that range from less than a minute in length to a couple minutes long. The seven sections, of the play, must be done in order, however the scenes/vignettes within each section can be done in whatever order the director wishes. The "random" section of scenes, included at the end of the play, are able to be incorporated anywhere within the play. This allows the director ample freedom to play with the storyline of the play along with the certain themes and questions they want to highlight with their particular production. The play allows the director and production team to take create a version of the play that they want to in all of the varying options and approaches the loose structure of the play allows, along with the wide arrange of casting options - nothing is specific in terms of casting within the show. Within the play are over 100 characters, however none of the characters are named and they can be double cast. After watching the play, writer Jennifer Wilkinson wrote, "The play asks us to consider how meaning is constructed and to participate in the process. The script has no stage directions, the characters are not always clearly gendered, the scenes can appear in a different order, and there are some random scenes which can be inserted anywhere in the play. This gives any director and company broad scope for creative input." ^[1]

Production history

Original production

The original production of Love and Information was performed by the Royal Court Theatre. It was directed by James Macdonald. The run time of this play was about an hour and 40 minutes. Macdonald's "energetic production supplies much in the way of context, anchoring each episode in a particular place and creating a kind of social kaleidoscope in the process." ^[2] In this production, Macdonald cast 16 actors to rotate around and play a large variety of characters throughout the play. The set was designed by Miriam Buether. She created a "clinical white-cube set, each piece [had] a slightly hallucinatory distinctness.^[3] Kristin Tillotson of the Startribune writes: "Caryl Churchill's sound-bite exploration of the modern state of human connections and the ever-increasing onslaught of knowledge both useless and profound has something for everyone, especially those with short attention spans. ... [this play] reminds us that no matter how many sophisticated modes of communicating with other flawed humans that we can access, we'll still manage to misconstrue, misconvey, then kiss and make up, just like always." ^[4]

Other notable productions

Frank Theatre Company produced Love and Information January 30th-February 22nd of 2015. This production went of at the Ritz Theatre in Minneapolis, MN. The show was directed by Wendy Knox and featured Patrick Bailey, Tessa Flynn, and Virginia Burke.^[4]

Malthouse Theatre and Sydney Theatre Company co-produced a production which opened in Melbourne June 2015 and toured to Sydney in July 2015. The show was directed by Kip Williams and featured an ensemble cast of Ursula Yovich, Anita Hegh, Alison Whyte, Zahra Newman, Marco Chiappi, Glenn Hazeldine, Anthony Taufa, and Harry Greenwood. The acclaimed production received two Green Room Awards nominations, four Sydney Theatre Awards Nominations, and a nomination for Williams for the Helpmann Award for Best Direction of a Play.

Lyric Theatre (Hammersmith) is producing Love and Information on the 9th and 10th August 2016. The show will be directed by Sherrill Gow and performed by the Lyric Young Company.

General references

• Churchill, Caryl. Love and Information. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 2013. Print.
• Cousin, Geraldine. Churchill, the Playwright. London: Methuen Drama, 1989. Print.
• Gagliano, Lynne, and Caitlin McLeod. Love and Information: Background Pack. London: Royal Court Theatre. PDF.
• Kritzer, Amelia Howe. Open-ended Inquiries: The Plays of Caryl Churchill. Ann Arbor, MI: U Microfilms Internat., 1988. Print.
• "Love and Information - Frank Theatre." Frank Theatre. Web. 201.
• Lyall, Sarah. "The Mysteries of Caryl Churchill." New York Times 5 Dec. 2004. Print.
• Selmon, Michael Layne. Engendering Drama: Caryl Churchill and the Stages of Reform. College Park, Md: U of Maryland, 1988. Print.
• Taylor, Paul. The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, 18 Sept. 2012. Web.
• Thompson, Tim. The Embodied Mind: Character and Subjectivity in the Work of Samuel Beckett, Tom Stoppard, Caryl Churchill and Jacques Lacan. 1996. Print.
• Tillotson, Kristin. "'Love and Information': Snapshots of Modern Communication." Star Tribune. 4 Feb. 2015. Web.
• Tripney, Natasha. "Love and Information." The Stage. 20 Sept. 2015. Web. Wilkinson, Jennifer. "Love and Information." Socialist Review. Oct. 2012. Web.

References