Love and Information

(Sydney Theatre Company)

Just a day after seeing 'Detroit' and this time another play, or rather performance piece, without a plot; 'Love and Information'.

This performance piece comprises seven sections, each containing seven scenes. The sections must be performed in order but the scenes within them can be performed in any order. There are a further ten scenes of which at least one must be performed and an additional sixteen scenes all of which are optional. Therefore any performance will comprise a minimum of fifty-one scenes to a maximum of seventy-six.

The scenes are short lasting from only a handful of seconds through to the longest of several minutes. There is no common theme linking the scenes, no plot and some scenes have minimal dialogue. A cast of eight perform the roles, hundreds of them, all characters unnamed.

It is an innovative idea and proved far more interesting to view and listen to than I imagined from pre-reading the program notes.

This cast is to be congratulated for its expert handling of the roles, the swift scene changes and for instantly establishing numerous mood and emotional senses scene by scene.
★★★1/2