Love and Information
By Caryl Churchill
1988 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play (Serious Money)
2001 Obie Sustained Achievement Award
Directed by Ellie Smith
Open Auditions: March 18th and 19th, 7-9pm with potential for callbacks on March 5th.
Rehearsal Timeframe: March - May
Matinee Performances (2:30pm): May 18, 2024
Evening Performances (7:30pm): May 19, 2024
Content Label: Appropriate Audiences (Contains references to violence and self-harm, some sexual content and adult language)
The Majestic Theatre (a division of the City of Corvallis Parks and Recreation department) is committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion and to creating a safe place for actors of all backgrounds to explore their craft. We are particularly eager to work with artists of color and other artists from marginalized communities. All auditions are free and open to the public. This audition is for an amateur, volunteer production. The Majestic Theatre staff and volunteers do not discriminate on the basis of age, national origin, race, gender, ethnic background, ability, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, or any protected class.
Auditions will be held in person at the Majestic Theatre.
SHOW SYNOPSIS
Every production of Love and Information is almost completely unique. Love and Information is a fast-paced series of vignettes that vary in length from a single line or action to several pages of text. There are seven sections, and the vignettes can be performed in any order within sections with the exception of the final scene. There is a vignette about depression that consists of single lines interspersed throughout the show. There are also several optional vignettes that can be performed at any point in the play. They all center in some fashion on the intimate moments of people’s lives, including the ones that are usually forgotten, never allowing the audience to lose track of the title themes of love and information. The most fascinating stylistic element of the show is that the lines are presented as essentially raw text. Most of the lines are not complete sentences and run into each other in a somewhat chaotic but compelling fashion. The script does not generally indicate who is speaking when or how many people there are in the scene. With very few small exceptions, it also does not comment on where they are or what they are doing. It is up to the directing staff and actors to come up with a storyline for each scene and figure out how to convey that storyline quickly and vividly to the audience.
FROM THE DIRECTOR Ellie Smith
I was in a production of Love and Information at Albany Civic Theater in 2019 and it was one of the most meaningful theatrical experiences of my life. The intimacy and intricacy of the dialogue brings people together in ways that I have never experienced in any other show which is very much by design. The shared ownership of the story was extremely rewarding and made us all feel like we were on a grand adventure akin to a roleplaying game that we got to play again and again. I want my actors to have a similarly wondrous experience.
PREPARATION NOTES
Please note that this show will NOT be a Readers’ Theatre performance, but instead be a memorized show performed in the Lab theatre space. Auditions will consist of readings from the script where auditioners will either be given a storyline or asked to come up with a BRIEF storyline for the scene to lightly rehearse before briefly describing and performing it (Example Storyline: We are a mother and daughter who are arguing about why the daughter has spray painted the gym wall at school) No prior preparation is required but a few of the vignettes will be posted below if actors want to prepare a scene in advance.
If you have any questions, please email the director at ellianne106@gmail.com.
CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS
This is an ensemble show for which I will need a creative and flexible cast of 10-12 actors who are 13 years or older to play a plethora of roles with some queer folx, disabled folx, and folx of color hopefully in the mix. As a matter of interest, there is a single named character in one of the vignettes named Jennifer who does not speak but sings a song that shall be determined by the actor playing the role.
READINGS
