company link.

Love and Information

by Caryl Churchill

Presented by Company Link with Theatre Incarnate

July 15th & 16th, 2021 - 7:30pm

Bonny Castle Park

For Tickets:

Love and Information

by Caryl Churchill

“Thought-churning, deeply poignant new play.”
-New York Times

​

​

"...it is what theatre ought to be. Everything in Love and Information has energy, imagination and theatrical muscle."

- Daily Review

A Company Link with Theatre Incarnate Presentation

Love and Information

by Caryl Churchill

July 15 & 16th, 2021 - 7:30pm

This play will be presented outside at BonnyCastle Park, as a recorded play with dance and movement. The audience will be socially distanced.

A series of thought churning "sound bites" from our modern era of technological and emotional overload. Check out one of our "sound bites" from the play.

​

​

Caryl Churchill is one of the world's foremost living playwrights. Churchill uses her signature wit and profound intuition to capture a kaleidoscope of human connections in Love and Information.

​

Churchill's exhilarating play addresses contemporary issues about knowledge, technology and communication, and our capacity for love. 

Show Background

“Love and Information” by Caryl Churchill is a play that takes time, has spanned time and in many ways is timeless. Since 2015, Brenda McLean and Ali Robson, have collaborated to better understand this poignant work and apply their areas of expertise, theatre and dance, to find a way to situate this story, theatrically and personally.

With the support of a Young Lungs Dance Exchange Research Series Residency in 2016, Brenda and performer Brittany Thiessen researched gestural movement vocabulary and contact improvisation in relation to the script for “Love and Information”. Ali worked as their rehearsal director to help flush out the subtext or connective tissue within the many scenes of this play in relation to movement.

Following this initial research period, Ali had a baby and Brenda continued to research and build a movement vocabulary with Brittany Thiessen and performer Alexandra Elliott. In 2018, with the support of the Winnipeg Arts Council and the Winnipeg Foundation, Company Link researched, rehearsed and presented a workshop showing of a section of the play. Brenda and Ali worked as co-directors and choreographers, engaged six performers, sound designer Leigh Anne Parry and worked with artistic consultant Tom Stroud. The performers were Brittany Thiessen, Alexandra Elliott, Warren McClelland, Ray Strachan, Eric Blais, and Victoria Hill. It was a monumental task to try and bring this play together, lots of love, lots of information, and there was still much work to do.

Without needing mention, the plan to present this work has been postponed a few times now. Needing to proceed with this project during the pandemic shifted the production plan and it was decided to move outdoors and record the whole play. Brenda invited her acting class participants to record the scenes and family members and friends contributed as well. A ton of work and LOVE has been put in to this play and everyone is eager to present it this summer.

Of equal interest to the content of the play was the way in which Brenda and Ali found to collaborate at the research stage of this project. This level of engagement and challenge redefined genre and the length of time that was contributed to this project has informed a deeper connection to the play, to the amazing performers involved and to the wide range of topics and emotions that “Love and Information” evokes. The final presentation of this five year journey will take place July 15 and 16, 2021 at Bonny Castle Park. It will be performed by Brittany Thiessen, Alexandra Elliott, Warren McClelland, Ray Strachan, Eric Blais, Victoria Hill and Anaïs Bossé, directed and choreographed by Brenda McLean and Ali Robson and supported technically by Eric Bossé.

Co-Directors/Choreographers

Ali Robson

Brenda McLean

Performers

Eric Blais

Anaïs Bossé

Alexandra Elliott

Victoria Hill

Warren McClelland

Ray Strachan

Brittany Thiessen

Voice Over Artists

Johnathan Bevan

David Breckman

Anaïs Bossé

Eric Bossé

Susan Finnigan

Duncan McGregor

Brenda McLean

Ali Robson

Saira Rahman

Susan Smiel

Christopher Sobczak

Collin Wynter

Technical Director

Eric Bossé

Photos by Leif Norman

Love and Information Workshop Showing

Funded by the Winnipeg Arts Council and the Winnipeg Foundation

Eric Bossé

Technical Director