Graceland University Theatre Production Focuses on Information

The Graceland University Theatre Department is presenting “Love and Information,” a hilarious but thought-provoking exploration of when either knowing too much or not enough is better. Written by Caryl Churchill, the Graceland production is directed by Tracy Salter.

Tickets are now on sale for 7:30 performances in Shaw Center’s JR Theatre on Thursday, Friday and Saturday (Feb. 18-20), or a 2 p.m. Sunday matinee (Feb. 21). To purchase tickets, call 641-784-5296, stop by the Shaw Ticket Office Monday through Friday from 9 to noon and 1-4 p.m., or order online at www.graceland.edu/ShawTickets. The ticket office will be open one hour before each performance as well.

One particular challenge was to create over 100 characters in 60 some scenes. There are seven sections within the play, and each has new characters, stories, props and costumes; a difficult challenge. Creating different, believable characters that have stories to tell in different scenarios was a challenge, according to Salter.

One review describes the central theme of the play this way: “Tell me. I want to know. I need to know. I have to know. Oh, I’m sorry you told me. I wish I didn’t know that.” Have you ever expressed any of those? If so, you are a certified human because those impulses, according to the review, “have animated every human being who has walked this planet. And the odds are that, in some form or another, those instincts percolate throughout your waking hours every day.”

Salter comments that she chose “Love and Information” because it seems an appropriate commentary of contemporary life and the way we give and receive information today. An interesting topic to Salter, she notes that we are bombarded with “information” every day. How does that change the way we communicate with each other, or does it change anything? Do we want the whole story or just a “post” or “tweet” on the topic? Is face-to-face communication changed by our world of information.

Salter is ecstatic about the JR Theatre as a perfect space for this play. The play is intimate in nature, and the black box theatre provides a closer, more intimate feel for the audience. The space provides an environment that assists with the storytelling of the play, encompassing the audience with the story-telling.