With fifteen impeccable actors, appearing in fifty fast paced and impeccably directed vignettes, with impeccable color coordinated costumes ( Gabriel Berry & Andrea Hood); expert lighting (Peter Mumford) and sound (Christopher Shutt) and a unit set that reminds us of a three sided box of gigantic graph paper the New York Theatre Workshop in association with the Royal Court Theatre’s production of Caryl Churchill’s LOVE AND INFORMATION has just been extended through April 6th.
It is quite the theatrical event. Ms. Churchill may be seventy five years old but she is right up to date in her observations regarding relationships – and the roller coaster ride of life that we now live in with the inundation of information that causes us to disconnect rather than connect with each other. Life is faster but is it better?
With dialogue that sparkles with wit all her characters are real and dimensional whether they speak a few lines in a scene that lasts a few seconds or a few minutes before going to blackout and onto the next scene – all accomplished in a flash with new props and furniture that magically appear from seemingly out of nowhere. James MacDonald has done a smashing job with this fast moving slide show. It is simply mind boggling – in many respects.
The locales include a sauna, an office, the movies, an airplane, a bathroom, a patio, a disco, an upright bed and lawn, a dressing room – well you get the point…There is also lots of wine consumed. Fear, secrets, infidelity, smells, boredom, prayer, dreams, memory and forgetfulness are touched upon.
There is a barrage of information that after an hour and a half begins to make some in the audience restless (the show runs approximately two hours without intermission at the Minetta Lane Theatre.) Squirming, stretching and scratching of necks became apparent. If only some cuts would be made the evening would be just about perfect.
What we ultimately come away with is a feeling of shell shock and that with all the technology to interact faster – only a click away – people are having greater difficulty in communicating with each other – something you probably have experienced.
The stellar cast couldn’t be better. Phillip James Brannon, Randy Danson, Susannah Flood, Noah Galvin, Jennifer Ikeda, Karen Kandel, Irene Sofia Lucio, Nate Miller, Kellie Overbey, Adante Power, John Procaccino, Lucas Caleb Rooney, Maria Tucci, James Waterston and Zoe Winters – all give impeccable performances.
Be prepared for a wild ride.
Photos: Joan Marcus
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