By Kit Schneider
At the Performing Arts Center’s fall main stage production of “Love and Information” by Caryl Churchill, a playwright known for her boundary-breaking work, 10 theatre students portrayed over 100 characters in 50 scenes. The show, which was directed by Maggie Lally ‘82, an associate professor of theatre at Adelphi, debuted on October 30 at the Olmsted Theater after months of preparation.
The production, which at first glance may have seemed strange and abstract to an unsuspecting audience, was designed to provoke thought on the easy access to vast amounts of information we have in today’s world. In particular, just how much information is too much? And, at what point does the growth of knowledge begin to affect our minds and relationships?
“Love and Information” does not have a linear storyline, which is often the case in playwriting. Instead, the text consists of multiple sections of prose, each telling its own short story. Absolutely no context is offered on which characters are speaking and how they should be inhabiting the space in their performance.
This offers producers remarkable room for creativity and as a result, each production of “Love and Information” is uniquely its own. At the same time, this also poses a unique challenge: for Lally, the most difficult part of directing this production was “putting everything together somewhat cohesively.”
A cast of just 10 students was selected to play over 100 different characters. It included seniors Sarah Baileigh, Jordan Boyatt, Nikki Colaitis, NayaJoy Dean-Colbert, Katie Goz, Alyssa Infranco and Serina Wold; junior Sierra McDaniel; and sophomores Ally Covone and Justin Koczko.
Many of the scenes were designed by the actors themselves after getting to know the source material inside out. The goal was for them to use all parts of their artistic repertoire to bring the words on the page to life.
When watching an open-ended production such as this one, Lally explained, “It's better to just allow yourself to experience the play and see which pieces speak to you and consider why they speak to you.”
The audience is given the freedom to interpret the performance however they wish. In doing so, the viewers take the main stage, instead of the actors.
The crew behind the scenes helped make it all possible. During a talk-back with the team on October 30, they discussed some of the challenges involved. Senior Cat Farrel, who served as costume designer, found it challenging to design costumes for over 100 different characters. Senior Latrel Thompson, the stage manager, acknowledged the challenges associated with working with such a hands-off script, “but that’s the fun of it,” he said.
Lally explained she put on this show, “because it is a very challenging piece that creates opportunities for both design and technology students and actors.”
The challenge of the show is what made it. The work of the actors to portray what they wanted with the words they were given as well as the crew to uphold this through sets, props, set pieces and keeping backstage as calm and clean as possible. With the excellent guidance and direction of director Lally, the show was as perfect as a show of this caliber could be.
Which, all in all, comes back to the message hidden within the show. Information can ruin a person. From a doctor’s diagnosis of a terminal illness to the mental illnesses of an individual to keeping a secret from a friend and finally revealing it, information can have unforeseen consequences. It could unintentionally hurt those we care about most or make us care about random strangers walking down the street.
Comments