Past Reviews

Regional Reviews: Minneapolis/St. Paul

Love and Information
Frank Theatre

Also see Arthur's reviews of FOB, Calvin Berger and Gertrude Stein and a Companion


Brianne Hill, Joy Dolo, and Tessa Flynn
Watching Love and Information, Caryl Churchill's play receiving its area premiere in Frank Theatre's sharply honed production, is like walking through Costco on sample day, enjoying a delicious tidbit of this slice of meat, that cheese and cracker, or perhaps a spicy puff pastry. I have, more often than I should admit, sampled my way through the store, and ended up feeling as full as if I had eaten an actual meal. Yet I cannot say that feeling is as satisfying as a well thought out balanced meal, in several courses, with attention to taste, nutrition and presentation.

In fact, Churchill has whipped up 57 samples—that is to say, scenes—stuffed into Love and Information's 95-minute running time. Of course, like the samples, these are just tiny bits—some less than a minute, none more than several minutes long. Most are quite flavorful, offering wit and intrigue, and quite a few leave us wanting more. Just a few fall flat. But can these tidbits be construed as a full and satisfying meal?

One imagines that Churchill intends to give us a clue in the play's title, Love and Information. In each scene, one or more characters is engaged in sharing, striving to understand, or struggling to conceal information. In one scene, a character posits the notion that sex is really based on an exchange of information between our genes, a recipe for reproduction. When one partner asks if she thinks of that while in the throes of passion, she responds "it couldn't hurt." They surmise that "sex is information and also love ... if you're lucky." So, perhaps the meal we are to make of this buffet of dramatic tidbits circles around the giving and receiving of information, and the connection information has to love.

I say "perhaps", as I am not certain I know that is what Churchill had in mind. It could be that provoking the audience to figure it out is what she had in mind, which means that I can not do much more than suggest you see for yourself and get back to me.

Moreover, the play is written without any character or scene descriptions, so each production has the opportunity to invent its own vision of this work. In Frank Theatre's production, director Wendy Knox and her ensemble have cast each scene as a unique bauble unto itself: different settings, from proper upper crust English to Southern redneck; different ages from adolescent to elderly; different genders, with coupling between two men, two women, and a man and a woman all in the mix. The variety made me look forward to what would come next, and delight in the range and wit with which each vignette was formed. Yet this same variety also impeded my natural bent to track connections and form a mental flow chart in order have to a sense of where the play is taking me.

Putting aside the question of what it means, the micro-scenes that constitute Love and Information are a wonderful collection of moments. Knox has assembled a talented ensemble of 14 actors who throw themselves into the work so that each character, whether present for of total of 30 seconds or five minutes, bears a ring of truth and projects notions of what came before and what might come next. Indeed, the best of these scenes do provoke such pondering, at least for a few seconds until the lights come up on the next scene. Kathy Kohl's astute costuming adds greatly to establishing each character within their moment or two in the spotlight. Sound designer Dan Dukich has provided a wonderful array of sonic bridges between the scenes, maintaining the wit and momentum of the piece.

A few of the scenes that most impressed me: two couples out on the town, the women, plotting a sexual liaison while their oblivious husbands deal with their coats; a young boy and girl, she telling him she is unable to feel physical pain and asking him to explain what it is, which turns out to be nigh impossible; and a yoga class with two young women in front, one proclaiming that God gives meaning to our lives, the other pushing back, asking what, then, gives meaning to God? Most poignant are a husband and wife, he with advancing dementia and not recognizing her, she struggling to recreate a connection. Of course, with 57 to choose from, you no doubt will have your own favorites.

The play opens with the entire ensemble on stage, doing what appear to be warm up exercises, each in their own space with no connection between any. This creates an engaging tableau, and stirred up my anticipation to see how, in the course of the play, love and information would impact those connections. At the end of the show, the entire ensemble is again on stage for a lightning round of obscure trivia questions, each taking his or her turn providing an answer. As they do so, they each expresses their feelings about successfully spouting out their nugget of information: pride, embarrassment, uncertainty, relief ... but each is again in their own universe.

Caryl Churchill has succeeded in creating a platter full of samplings that give us a taste of the ways people do or do not communicate. They have been directed with great verve, and acted with as much conviction as one could ask for, given the occasion. There are quite a few laughs and a few moments of tenderness. Some have a ring of truth, others are way out there, in a good way. I did not leave the theater feeling I had acquired much information, or been witness to much love, but I did feel stimulated to reflect on what kind of full course meal might be constructed of these scrumptious tidbits.

Love and Information continues through February 22, 2015, at the Ritz Theater, 345 13th Avenue NE, Minneapolis, MN. Tickets: $22.00 - $25.00. For tickets call 612-724-3700 or go to franktheatre.org.

Written by Caryl Churchill; Director: Wendy Knox; Scenery: Erica Zaffarano; Costumes: Kathy Kohl; Lighting Design: Ray Steveson; Sound Designer: Dan Dukich; Stage manager: Glenn Klapperich; Dramaturgy: Steve Matuszak

Ensemble: Gabe Angieri, Patrick Bailey, Kirby Bennett, Virginia Burke, Joy Dolo, Katherine Ferrand, Tessa Flynn, Emily Grodzik, Brianne Hill, Leif Jurgensen, Taous Claire Khazem, Sam Pearson, Elohim Pena, and Carl Schoenborn.


Photo: Tony Nelson


- Arthur Dorman


Also see the season schedule for the Minneapolis - St. Paul region