User:Katharinehope2/sandbox

= Love and Information =

Introduction
Love and Information is a play written by the British playwright, Cary Churchill. It first opened at the Royal Court Theatre in September of 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 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 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." 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."

Section 1:
This is the first section of the play and is comprised of seven scenes. The titles of the scenes are (in chronological order as written in the play) Secret, Census, Fan, Torture, Lab, Sleep and Remote.
 * Secret: This scene contains two characters. The first character is begging the second character to tell them a secret, all the while promising they won't tell and that they will still love them no matter what the secret is. Towards the end of the scene the second character thells the first character their secret and the second character reacts negatively. The scene ends with neither character knowing what to do next.
 * Census: This scene contains two characters discussing the invasive nature of a census along with the inconvenience of it and telemarketing calls.
 * Fan: This scene contains two characters talking about how much they love "him" each trying to one up the other on how much they love him and how much they know about him. The scene is ambiguous about the relationship of the two characters talking and their relationship to "him." It hints at the possibility of the "him" being their baby, but the director could easily take it into a completely different direction. The relationships are up to interpretation.
 * Torture: This scene is two characters talking about how they have yet to get information out of whoever they're questioning or torturing (what exactly they're doing to said person is up to interpretation).
 * Lab: This scene takes place between two characters in a lab. They're discussing one of the character's research, which is the killing of chicks to look at and study their brains.
 * Sleep: This scene contains two characters both of which are lying in bed. One can't fall asleep and the other is trying to provide solutions to help them fall asleep. The scene ends with the character who can't sleep deciding to get up and get on facebook.
 * Remote: This scene takes place between two characters in a cabin or lodge somewhere that technology doesn't work. One character likes the peace and quiet this brings and one is struggling with the idea that no tv, computer, radio, phone or other technology will work.

Section 2:
This is the second section of the play and is comprised of seven scenes. The titles of the scenes are (in chronological order as written in the play) Irrational, Affair, Mother, Fired, Message, Grass, Terminal.
 * Irrational: This scene takes place between two characters discussing irrational numbers and their existence. It ends with one character explaining that maybe one shouldn't talk about things that are hard to understand and make others uncomfortable which causes the other character to ask them if that's what they do.
 * Affair: This scene contains two characters discussing an affair that's taking place. One of the character's significant others is having an affair with her best friend and the other character, who's her friend, knows. The character who knows about the affair is trying to decide whether or not to tell the first character about it. While trying to decide whether or not to tell her she inadvertantly tells the other character. However, it turns out that the other character already knew that the affair was occuring as is okay with it.
 * Mother: This scene takes place between two characters. Character 1 tells her "sister" that she wants to talk to her (character 2) while "their mum" is out. Once character 2 is listening, character 1 reveals that she is actually character 2's mother and not her older sister and that "her mum" is actually her grandmother. It turns out that character 1 had character 2 when she was thirteen years old. Character 2 is, obviously, shocked and distraught. The scene continues to discuss whether or not they will tell "mum" that character 2 knows the truth.
 * Fired: Scene two contains two characters. One of the characters has just fired the other character through email. The first character barges into the second character's office and complains that it's unfair to fire someone over email and demands that they fire them to their face.
 * Message: This scene takes place between two characters that the messages death and murder send. One is pro the message that death sends to society and the other is against the message.
 * Grass: This scene takes place between two partners discussing one of the partners action to turn in a "friend" of theirs to the police. Although the partner who turned in the friend did what they could to conceal their identity the second is worried that somehow their identity will be found out and it will put their family in danger.
 * Terminal: This scene takes place between a doctor and a patient. The patient has just received news that their illness is terminal and they want to know how long they have left to live.

Section 3:
This is the third section of the play and is comprised of seven scenes. The titles of the scenes are (in chronological order as written in the play) Schizophrenic, Spies, Dream, Recluse, God’s Voice, The Child Who Didn’t Know Fear, Star.
 * Schizophrenic: This scene takes place between two characters. One character suffers from Schizophrenia and is telling the other character that they have been told by voices that the other character is evil. The character who is supposedly evil tries to convince the first character that they're ill and that the voices aren't real.
 * Spies: This scene is an argument between two spies. They arguing about whether or not one knew that the war that America waged on a country was based on false information and that America went into the war knowing the information was fake.
 * Dream: This scene takes place between two lovers. One of the lovers had a dream that they interpreted to be about infidelity. They felt this was telling them they could go ahead and have an affair even though one of the lovers is in a relationship.
 * Recluse: This scene takes place with three characters. Two are inside and one is outside the door and can be heard. The character outside the door has come to interview a once famous "Mr. Rushmore" about why he lives in a forest miles away from anyone else. The two characters inside debate about whether or not to answer the person outside and what to tell him.
 * God's Voice: This scene takes place between two characters discussing God. One of the characters has been told by God what to do about a certain situation (it's never named in the scene) and the other is unsure about them hearing God's voice and God speaking directly to this character.
 * The Child Who Didn't Know Fear: This scene takes place between two characters. One character is telling a story about a child to another character. The story is about a child who didn't know what fear was so his friends took him to a haunted house and told him he would experience fear at this place. The friends came back the next day and the child was still there and was fine. He told them he didn't experience any fear. They then left and the child met a lion on his way home and the lion eats him.
 * Star: This scene is between two characters talking about the sun and stars and the speed of light.

Section 4:
This is the fourth section of the play and is comprised of seven scenes. The titles of the scenes are (in chronological order as written in the play) Wedding Video, Savant, Ex, Memory House, Dinner, Piano, Flashback.
 * Wedding Video: This scene takes place between several people. The characters are all watching a video of a wedding. They're reminiscing on the different people and memories of that day.
 * Savant: This scene takes place between two characters. One is asking the other what they remember about a specifc day. The other character is able to remember exaclty what happened that day. They have an abnormal memory where they can remember absolutely everything.
 * Ex: This scene is between two exes who are reminiscing on their past relationship and trying to remember specific aspects.
 * Memory House: This scene takes place between two characters discussing how one of the characters really has trouble remembering anything and that they wish it were different.
 * Dinner: This scene is between two people arguing about whether or not one of them told the other that they would be going to dinner with friends.
 * Piano: This scene takes place between three people. One of the characters is introducing "Jennifer" to the other character. Then one of the characters sits down at the piano while Jennifer sings.
 * Flashback: This scene is between two people. One of the characters is having a flashback while the other is trying to calm them down and talk them through it.

Section 5:
This is the fifth section of the play and is comprised of seven scenes. The titles of the scenes are (in chronological order as written in the play) Linguist, Maths, Sex, God, Rash, Children, Shrink. The title of the show comes from the scene "Sex."
 * Linguist: This scene is between two characters discussing the fluidity of language. And how each language has a different word for table.
 * Maths: This scene takes place between a couple talking about whether or not to go see some friends. One is against going to see them because they always talk about how math is inconsistent with itself and tries to get under that characters skin. In the end they decide to go see their friends.
 * Sex: This scene is where the title of the play comes from. It takes place between two people who are discussing sex. One says that sex is the exchange of information (genetic) while the other asks if they think that while they are having sex. Then that character responds that it's both love and information.
 * God: This scene is between two characters talking about God and his meaning. About whether or not he thinks about his own meaning and what that means for them.
 * Rash: This scene takes place between two characters discussing a rash.
 * Children: This scene takes place between two characters. The first character asks the second character if they can have kids. The second character replies that they can't, which leads the first to ask if that's why they got a divorce. They respond that no it wasn't why, that they got a divorce because their partner left them for a Spaniard who they now have children with.
 * Shrink: This scene is between two characters discussing how one of the character's past history has become less traumatic because of the help from an analyst. They say it's taken away the pain and given it meaning.

Section 6:
This is the sixth section of the play and is comprised of seven scenes. The titles of the scenes are (in chronological order as written in the play) The Child Who Didn’t Know Sorry, Climate, Censor, Wife, Decision, The Child Who Didn’t Know Pain, Earthquake.
 * The Child Who Didn't Know Sorry: This is a scene between two characters. One is telling the other that they have to say sorry because they hurt someone and the other says they don't want to because they don't feel sorry.
 * Climate: This scene takes place between two characters discussing the effects of climate change and how they're afraid of it and what it will mean for their children.
 * Censor: This scene is between two characters. The first is telling the second that there are certain things in either a paper, book, or article (it's not specified) that need to be taken out, or censored, because they're a breech of information.
 * Wife: This scene is between a couple, however one of them does not recognize the other (who is their wife). The scene is about the wife trying to convince her partner that she is really their wife, but the partner never believes them.
 * Decision: This scene is between two characters. One of the characters has made a pros and cons list for leaving the country and still can't decide on whether or not to leave. The other character tells them that they wish they'd stay.
 * The Child Who Didn't Know Pain: This scene is between two people. One is trying to explain to the other what pain is and what it feels like. They end up explaining it as emotional pain, but in your body. The character who doesn't know pain still doesn't understand in the end.
 * Earthquake: This scene is between two characters. One of the characters is affected and moved by the power and catastrophe of an earthquake while the other isn't. They are both trying to understand the other's point of view.

Section 7:
This is the seventh section of the play and is comprised of eight scenes. The titles of the scenes are (in chronological order as written in the play) Chinese Poetry, Manic, Grief, Fate, Stone, Virtual, Small Thing, Last Scene: Facts.
 * Chinese Poetry: This scene is between two characters going through a poem line by line trying to figure out the meaning of each line.
 * Manic: This scene is between two characters. One of which is "manic." This character moves through their thoughts through the association of colors while the other listens and gives simple replies.
 * Grief: This scene is between two people. One of the characters has just lost someone and is grieving while the other is concerning over them and trying to help, they are making sure that character one is doing okay.
 * Fate: This scene is between two characters discussing the existence of free will and choices.
 * Stone: This scene is between two characters discussing the importance of a stone to a third character, who isn't in the scene. They pick up the special stone and throw it and then decide that they should go pick it back up and give it back to him.
 * Virtual: This scene takes place between two characters. One of the characters is in love with a virtual woman. The other character is trying to explain that character one can't be in love with a virtual person and tries to convince them that it's not true love. However, character one doesn't budge that i'ts true love and that they've never felt like this before.
 * Small Thing: This scene takes place between two characters looking at a small snail.
 * Last Scene: Facts: This scene takes place between two characters. Character one is asking character two factual questions and character two is answering them. Towards the end of the scene, character one sneaks in the question "Do you love me?" and character two ducks the question telling them not to do that. However, at the end of the scene character two answers that question by saying yes as well as answering the last factual question asked.

"Random" Section:
This is the section of the play comprised of scenes that are optional, aside from Depression scene, and able to be added anywhere into the play. This section is comprised of twenty scenes. The titles of the scenes are (in chronological order as written in the play) Depression, Semaphore, Morse, Sign Language, Birdsong, Dance, Flags, Painting, Pig Latin, Santa, Tables, Genes, Dog, Keys, Magazine, Google, Twitter, Zen, Cold, Silence.
 * Depression: This scene is the only scene of the "random" section that is required to be put into the show somewhere. The description for this scene is: "Each of these is a separate random item. Each is said by one person to another who doesn't respond. The characters can be the same each time, or the depressed person can be the same and the others different, or they can all be different."
 * Semaphore: This scene has no dialogue or description so it is up to the director and ensemble to decide what to do for this scene and what they want to add to the play with it.
 * Morse: This scene has no dialogue or description so it is up to the director and ensemble to decide what to do for this scene and what they want to add to the play with it.
 * Sign Language: This scene has no dialogue or description so it is up to the director and ensemble to decide what to do for this scene and what they want to add to the play with it.
 * Birdsong: This scene has no dialogue or description so it is up to the director and ensemble to decide what to do for this scene and what they want to add to the play with it.
 * Dance: This scene has no dialogue or description so it is up to the director and ensemble to decide what to do for this scene and what they want to add to the play with it.
 * Flags: This scene has no dialogue or description so it is up to the director and ensemble to decide what to do for this scene and what they want to add to the play with it.
 * Painting: "Someone has a large canvas and is flicking paint at it"
 * Pig Latin: In this scene a character simply speaks pig latin. They ask the audience or another character, up to the director, if they can speak pig latin in pig latin.
 * Santa: In this scene one character speaks about Santa Claus (Father Christmas) and what he does.
 * Tables: In this scene a character is doing times tables of 7.
 * Genes: In this scene a character is listing DNA codons.
 * Dog: In this scene a character is speaking dog commands.
 * Keys: In this scene a character asks another character or the audience (up to the director) if they know where they put their car keys.
 * Magazine: In this scene a character is looking at a magazine describing a tabloid in it.
 * Google: In this scene a character is stating when a train gets in, presumably they figured this out through the use of Google.
 * Twitter: In this scene a character is reading a tweet outloud that ryhmes.
 * Zen: In this scene a character asks, "What's the sound of one hand clapping? I've never heard that one."
 * Cold: In this scene someone sneezes.
 * Silence: In this scene there is simply silence. The stage directions state: "This can happen more than once, for different lengths of time."

Themes

 * Love
 * Relationships
 * Romantic
 * Platonic
 * Communication
 * Information gathering
 * Is it ethical?
 * Memory
 * How does it shape our identity?
 * Love vs. Life
 * Identity

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." 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.

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.

Influences on the style/genre of the play

 * Experimental theatre
 * Performance art
 * Bertolt Brecht
 * Postmodern theatre
 * Epic theatre
 * Modernism
 * Theatre of the Absurd
 * Feminism

Other Plays by Caryl Churchill

 * Top Girls
 * Blue Heart (play)
 * Cloud 9 (play)
 * A Dream Play (Adapted from August Strindberg's A Dream Play)
 * Drunk Enough to Say I Love You?
 * Serious Money
 * A Number

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.