Eight Mount Allison University students will play more than 100 characters in Love and Information, a production made up of roughly 50 to 60 short scenes performed over 70 minutes.
The play opens November 4 at the Motyer-Fancy Theatre and runs until November 7. Written by British playwright Caryl Churchill in 2012, it is being directed by Mount Allison drama and screen studies instructor Valmai Goggin.
Rather than following one storyline, the production moves between different characters and situations.
“Some of these scenes are incredibly heartbreaking and tragic. Some of them are very, very funny. Some of them are extremely mundane and ordinary and everyday,” Goggin said.
The eight actors spend much of the performance onstage together. In some scenes, two or three have speaking roles while the others contribute sounds or movements in the background. Goggin compared those moments to a Greek chorus.
“Because when I read the play, and maybe when people see the play, there is a sense of sensory overload that is not unlike the doom scrolling that we all do from time to time throughout our day,” Goggin said.
Goggin first read the script a couple of years ago but couldn’t imagine how it could be staged. She returned to it about a year later and changed her mind. One of her biggest challenges has been deciding how long to spend on each scene before moving to the next.
During an interview at the Motyer-Fancy Theatre, cast members Cameron Taylor and Oliver Van Buskirk performed part of a scene in which two people argue about a relationship with a virtual partner. Taylor read the opposing character’s lines for the demonstration but does not play that role in the production.
The person defending the relationship describes a computer-generated woman who listens to their poetry and understands them. The other person questions whether she can have feelings or be conscious. Their argument takes a different turn when the first character points out that human beings are also made up of information.
The exchange eventually reaches the subject of physical intimacy, with one character insisting the relationship is fulfilling despite being virtual.
Van Buskirk plays the skeptic in the production.
“What is a human? What is a connection? And also, why do we care?” Van Buskirk said.
Goggin called the argument tense and uncomfortable. What surprised her was that Churchill had written it in 2012, well before relationships with artificial intelligence became a common subject of public discussion.
Taylor estimates playing around 12 characters, although Taylor hasn’t counted them all. One role involves explaining physical pain to someone who understands emotional suffering but has never felt physical pain.
Other characters include a young girl arguing with a friend about a celebrity crush and someone panicking about environmental collapse. Taylor also appears in a scene involving information that may have been shared with police.
Unlike a traditional play, where actors can develop a character over an extended storyline, Taylor has only a few moments to establish each role.
“You have to find those little moments that you can give the audience to understand who you’re portraying better,” Taylor said.
Van Buskirk wasn’t sure what to make of the script at first. Its formatting reminded him more of poetry than a conventional play.
“Oh, geez. What did I agree to? I don’t know how I’m gonna be able to pull this off,” Van Buskirk recalled thinking.
The cast has been rehearsing regularly since September. Van Buskirk said the movements and dialogue have become familiar, although he wonders whether audiences will find the production as easy to follow.
He also had to figure out how to play several angry characters without making them all seem alike. One is a child who won’t apologize after hurting somebody. Others are upset because they feel unheard or aren’t getting their way.
Van Buskirk compared the audience’s brief encounters with the characters to social media and parasocial relationships, where people form opinions about others without knowing much about their lives.
“I think sometimes plays give you answers, and I think this one gives you a lot of questions,” Taylor said.
A talkback is planned for Thursday, November 5, giving audiences an opportunity to discuss the production.
Tickets cost $5 through Mount Allison’s Radical Access Ticketing Initiative, supported by the university and the Walker Wood Foundation. The reduced price applies to all Mount Allison theatre productions this season. Tickets are available through Mount Allison’s theatre website or at the door. Goggin recommends buying in advance.
“Everyone’s been nothing but supportive so far, so it’s been good,” she says.
Theodore Ramharack holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Western University and a diploma in Broadcast Journalism. He recently completed an internship with CBC News’ The National.
Originally from Ontario, he moved to Sackville to join CHMA as a local journalist and is excited to get to know the Tantramar region and share stories from the community.
