Submitted by Harlequin Productions
Harlequin Productions presents Caryl Churchill’s Love and Information, February 28 through March 23 at the State Theater in downtown Olympia. Artistic Director Aaron Lamb will direct.
In this fast-moving kaleidoscope by Britain’s “greatest playwright” Caryl Churchill, more than a hundred characters employ 57 scenes in just 110 minutes to try to make sense of what they know. In a departure from the standard 20+ ensemble, Harlequin will perform the 2012 West End hit with only seven actors.
“The greatest living English playwright and, in my opinion, the most important English-language playwright since Williams.” – Tony Kushner
“…What is extraordinary about Churchill is her capacity as a dramatist to go on reinventing the wheel.” – Guardian
“The succinct and thought-provoking script speaks volumes about the fast turnover of modern life.” – Huffington Post
Most reviews of the production see it as a meditation on the successes and failures of human communication, but Director Aaron Lamb feels this misses Churchill’s larger point. Says Lamb, “The question I am asking is: where is the intersection between data and emotion? At what point do chemical reactions become human experiences, and in that chain reaction, where do we become human?”
Aaron Lamb, Artistic Director for Harlequin Productions, will direct. Last season, Lamb directed Three Days of Rain, I Am My Own Wife, Ruthless! and The 1940s Radio Hour. In ten seasons as an actor and director with Harlequin he has also directed August: Osage County, Hedda Gabler, Time Stands Still, Middletown, and Five Women Wearing the Same Dress. As an actor, he most recently appeared in the 2018 season, as Gary Essendine in Noel Coward’s Present Laughter. Lamb has worked in Seattle for Village Theatre, Taproot Theatre, Book-It Repertory Theatre, and Seattle Shakespeare Company, and has worked regionally throughout the country. He holds an MFA in Acting from California State University, Fullerton, a BA from Washington State University, and is a member of the Actor’s Equity Association.
The cast of seven includes Harlequin veterans Alyssa Kay Matthews (The 39 Steps, Three Days of Rain, The Language Archive), Gerald Browning (The 1940s Radio Hour, The Love List), and Fox Rain Matthews (Three Days of Rain), as well as four actors making their Harlequin debuts: Skylar Bastedo (Broadway Olympia’s Legally Blonde), Nicholas Main (SPSCC Theater Company’s Angels in America), Shauntal Piper (SecondStory Repertory, Broadway Rose, Tacoma Little Theater) and Janet Spencer.
WHAT: Harlequin Productions presents Love and Information, a funny, often-poignant drama about human exploration, written by Caryl Churchill and directed by Aaron Lamb.
WHEN: February 28 – March 23, 2019
WHERE: State Theater, 202 4th Ave East, Olympia, WA 98501
TICKETS: Tickets are available online at harlequinproductions.org, by phone at 360-786-0151, or in person 12:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m., Tuesday-Friday and 2 hours before performances at the Harlequin Box Office in the State Theater.
General admission tickets are $35
Senior 60+/Military $32
Student/Youths Under 25 $20
Rush Tickets (half-hour prior to showtime) General $15; Senior/Military/Student/Under 25 $12
SPECIAL DATES FOR THE AUDIENCE:
Opening Night: Thursday, February 28, 2019 at 8:00 p.m.
Pay-What-You-Can: Wednesday, March 6, 2019 at 8:00 p.m.
Ladies’ Night Out: Friday, March 8, 2019 at 8:00 p.m.
Post-show Talkback: Sunday, March 10, 2019 at 2:00 p.m.
Pride Night: Friday, March 15, 2019 at 8:00 p.m.
CATEGORY: Experimental
AGE RECOMMENDATION: All ages: under 13 with guidance
