Love and Information
WRITTEN BY CARYL CHURCHILLDIRECTED BY KATHARINE MCLEOD ––
Friday, March 24 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 25 at 2 & 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 26 at 2 p.m.
Yvonne Theater
Rider University
2083 Lawrenceville Road
Lawrenceville, N.J.
“Love and Information” is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. | www.concordtheatricals.com
LOVE AND INFORMATION was first presented by The English Stage Company at The Royal Court Theatre in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, London, England on 6 September 2012. The US premier was presented at New York Theatre Workshop, New York on 19 February 2014, directed by James McDonald.
Program Note
What does it mean to be living at a time when we have access to virtually every bit of information we could ever want to know? What do we need from each other as human beings, when our needs can increasingly be met with the click of a button? How much do we really know about the lives we briefly peer into as we scroll TikTok, Facebook, Instagram?
A dizzying play made up of over 50 self-contained mini-stories, Love & Information raises more questions than it answers. Churchill’s script provides a title and text for each scene but there is no indication of character, setting, or any kind of context. We have moments of connection and disconnection, absurd humor, Big Important Ideas set against the most simple and intimate of human interactions… and woven throughout are questions of what it means to live and love in a world that feels increasingly more complicated and isolating.
The show you’ll see today is completely unique to this group of young artists. Given the flexible nature of Churchill’s script, we’ve done a great deal of exploration, collective creation, and playful discovery. The ensemble approached the entire process with a sense of curiosity, play, and above all artistic generosity. They’ve taken ownership over the production and while it’s been my pleasure to help guide, many of the choices and ideas we’ve executed have been entirely theirs. I couldn’t be prouder of the work they've made together, and we are so unbelievably excited to share it with you.
Welcome to our playground!
SPECIAL THANKS TO BILL BRIGHT
A Note on Music & Choreography
We would like to take a moment to acknowledge and honor the diverse origins of the music and choreography used in our opening dance piece. We recognize that all of these dances come from different origins around the world. Many of these songs and dances were derived from pieces created by those who were enslaved and removed from their homelands; or, the music was changed as it was played throughout different countries. Music is a language used to form a connection between others with or without words. Music speaks to the soul and connects people through hardships, struggles, and joyful times.
WARNING: This production contains adult themes, and features the use of sudden lights and sounds.
Sections & Scenes
SECTION 1
Dance
Secret
Fan
Census
Torture
Sleep Remote
Lab
Depression
SECTION 3
Genes
Depression
God’s Voice
The Child Who Didn’t Know Fear
Schizophrenic
Dream Spies
Recluse
Star
SECTION 5
Silence
Linguist
Sex
God Children
Depression
Shrink
Dance
Maths
Rash
Santa
Dog
SECTION 2
Fired
Irrational
Mother
Affair
Message
Depression
Grass
Terminal
SECTION 4
Wedding Video
Savant
Dinner
Ex
Depression
Piano
Flashback
Memory House
SECTION 6
Depression
Earthquake
Climate
The Child Who Didn’t Know Sorry
Censor
Sign Language
Depression
Wife
Decision
The Child Who Didn’t Know Pain
Silence
SECTION 7
Fate
Maniac
Poetry
Grief
Virtual
Stone
Zen
Depression
Small Thing
Facts
Silence The Ensemble
Alicia Bartosik
Rachel Favetta
Lex Goyden
Haley Hartline
Tyler Hentz
Aidan Kelly
Natalie Mattson
Artistic Staff and Crew
Arianna Mcmorris
Daniel Menjivar
Juliette Nero Eddings
Erik Olsson
Emily Porter Siegel
Ned Way
Emily Wunderle
Director Katharine McLeod
Production Stage Manager Ellee Jo Trowbridge
Dir. of Production Management/Technical Director Buck Linton
Lighting Designer Todd Loyd
Scenic Designer Sidney Martinez
Costume Designer Carly Walton
Props Manager Clare Hanrahan
Sound Designer Craig Pincus
Stage Manager Sully Sullivan
Assistant Lighting Designer Scarlett Liput
Assistant Stage Manager Lyndsey Adkisson
Assistant Stage Manager Olivia Dostal
Assistant Technical Manager Rylee Berger
Stage Carpenter
Juliette Nero Eddings
Wardrobe Supervisor Robin I. Shane
Light Board Operator Aniky Salima
Sound Board Operator Sophie Friedman
Projection Operator Samantha Schucht
Props Supervisor Kaedon Knight
About the Cast
JULIETTE NERO EDDINGS (she/they) is a junior Acting major. Rider credits include: The Children's Hour (Assistant Director), The One-Act Play That Goes Wrong (Chris/Inspector Carter), Rider New Works '22, Polaroid Stories (Stage Manager), Pride and Prejudice (Assistant Stage Manager), Everybody (Kinship/Strength), The Ungodly Hour (multiple voices).
RACHEL FAVETTA (she/her) is a junior acting major with a minor in TV and Film studios. Rider credits include: Rider New Works 2022, The One-Act Play That Goes Wrong (Stage Manager). Other credits include: It’s a Wonderful Life (Clarence).
HALEY HARTLINE (she/they) is a junior BFA Acting for Film, TV, & Theatre major with a minor in Design and Technology for Theatre. Rider credits include: Magic to Do Cabaret (RSTC), The Cherry Orchard (Acting Showcase), Ballymore (Wardrobe Supervisor), Kander and Ebb’s Cabaret (Spot Operator), The Children’s Hour (Assistant Stage Manager), and Kiss Me, Kate (upcoming, Stage Manager).
TYLER HENTZ (he/him) is a senior BFA Musical Theatre major with a minor in Arts and Entertainment Industries Management. Rider credits include: Polaroid Stories, Rider New Works ’21, and The One-Act Play That Goes Wrong.
AIDAN KELLY (he/they) is a sophomore BFA Musical Theatre Major. Rider credits include: Rebirth (Freshman Showcase), Into the Spotlight: A Tribute to Stephen Sondheim, Urinetown: The Musical (Robby the Stockfish, U/S Bobby Strong).
NATALIE MATTSON (she/they) is a junior Musical Theatre major. Rider credits include: ISM (Featured Performer).
ARIANNA MCMORRIS (she/her) is a junior BA Musical Theatre Major. Rider credits include: It's a Wonderful Life (vocalist). Professional and Community credits include: Mamma Mia (Tanya), Clue (Miss Scarlet), Pippin (featured Dancer/Dance Captain), Suessical (Bird Girl) Legally Blonde (Margot), 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Rona) and Diary of an Ex- Slave (vocalist) with the Gateway Playhouse.
DANIEL MENJIVAR (he/him) is a sophomore BFA acting major. Rider credits Iinclude: Rider New Works 2021, The Children's Hour (Grocery Boy).
ERIK OLSSON (he/him) is a senior Theatre - Acting major with a minor in Film & Television. Rider credits: Pride & Prejudice (Officer/Servant/Guest), Everybody (Somebody #4/Stuff/Senses), It's A Wonderful Life (Joseph/Billy/Peter/Gower/Collins), and Our Time: A Virtual Sondheim Cabaret.
EMILY PORTER SIEGEL (they/them) is a sophomore BFA Acting and English Literature double major. Love and Information is their Rider mainstage debut. They will be spending this semester directing their cabaret of bodies changed, which will be performed at the end of April to complete the project which they received an Undergraduate Research Scholar Award to conduct. Other Rider performance credits include: The Mythos Cabaret (Eurydice) and A Cherry Orchard (Charlotta).
NED WAY (he/him) is a senior Musical Theatre major. Rider credits include: Carrie (Tommy, RSTC), Danny Feldman’s Hide and Seek (Jason), The One-Act Play That Goes Wrong (Dennis), and Pride & Prejudice (Wickham).
EMILY WUNDERLE (she/her) is a senior Musical Theatre major. Rider credits include: It’s A Wonderful Life, ISM, Urinetown, and The Children’s Hour (Martha). Professional credits include: Matilda (Northern Stage, VT).
About the Artistic Staff and Crew
LYNDSEY ADKISSON, ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER (she/her), is a sophomore BFA musical theatre major. Rider credits: Rebirth (Freshman Showcase), Into the Spotlight: A Tribute to Stephen Sondheim, and the Jason Robert Brown Cabaret (RSTC)
RYLEE BERGER, ASSISTANT TECHNICAL DIRECTOR (she/her), is a junior double major in Theatre Design and Technology and Arts and Entertainment Industries Management. Rider University credits include: Polaroid Stories (Production Stage Manager), Rebirth (Production Stage Manager), Cabaret (Assistant Technical Director), Rider New Works 2022 (Co-Scenic Designer), Pete(HER) Pan (Stage Manager), Pride and Prejudice (Stage Manager/Stage Carpenter), Working (Stage Manager), Monstersongs (Stage Manager) and The Children’s Hour (Production Stage Manager, Co-Scenic Designer).
LINDSAY CLARKE, WARDROBE SUPERVISOR (she/her/hers), is a senior Management and Leadership & Design and Tech Theater double major. Rider credits include: Pippin (Wardrobe Supervisor), Rider New Works 2022
(Assistant Stage Manager and Costume Designer), Urinetown (Assistant Stage Manager) Cendrillon (Stage Manager), and Rider Dances 2023 (Stage Manager).
OLIVIA DOSTAL, ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER (she/her), is a freshman BFA Acting major from Chandler, Arizona.
SOPHIE FRIEDMAN, SOUND BOARD OPERATOR, Rider credits include: The Wolves (#8), Working! The Musical (Woman 2 Cover/Offstage Singer), Pride & Prejudice (Elizabeth Bennet), The Children's Hour (Mrs. Tilford), Clean Slate (Assistant Director)
KAEDON KNIGHT, PROPS SUPERVISOR (he/him), is a senior Musical Theatre major with an Arts and Entertainment Industries Management minor. Rider credits: Clean Slate (Hercules) The One-Act Play That Goes Wrong (Robert/ Thomas Colleymoore), Polaroid Stories (Orpheus), Pride and Prejudice (Charles Bingley), Steel Pier (Luke Adams), It’s a Wonderful Life (Mr. Porter), The Ungodly Hour (Robert Johns), Monstersongs (Yeti).
BUCK LINTON, PRODUCTION MANAGER, TECHNICAL DIRECTOR.
Between earning his MFA in Scenography and Technical Design (Virginia Tech) and joining Rider as its Technical Director in 2012, he professionally produced nearly 200 productions with such venues as The Kennedy Center, Paper Mill Playhouse, Manhattan Theatre Club, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse and McCarter Theatre. Selected works include Travesties, Sleeping Beauty Wakes, Take Flight, Herringbone, Lookingglass Alice and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Falstaff, Die Zauberflöte, Pelléas et Mélisande, Dialogues des Carmélites, La Clemenza di Tito, Oreste, Sunjata
Kamalenya, The Odyssey Experience, Die Fledermaus, Rigoletto, Turandot, Chicago, EDDA (Ping Chong & Sequentia Ensemble, international tour). Since then, he has produced over 100 productions for Rider University’s College of Arts and Sciences in the performing arts.
SCARLETT LIPUT, ASSISTANT LIGHTING DESIGNER (she/her), a senior Technical Theatre Major and English minor. She has a concentration in lighting, and this is her first show as Assistant Lighting Designer. Rider credits include: Rider Dances 2023: Expanding Communities and Urinetown
TODD LOYD, LIGHTING DESIGNER, is the lighting director for Rider University’s Department of Theatre and Dance. He supervises the lighting for every performance that the department produces in addition to mentoring several students that assist in designing, hanging, focusing, and programming the lighting for each show. At Rider he has designed over 30 productions including plays, musicals, dance recitals, cabarets, and operas. Some of the highlights include Rider Dances: Moving in Our Community, Pippin, Pride and Prejudice, Everybody, Bright Star, Hair, Heathers The Musical, The Theory of Relativity, Once On This Island, She Kills Monsters, Our Town, A Chorus Line and Metamorphoses. Other selected professional projects include Rock of Ages and Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery (Forestburgh Playhouse), Journey to Oz (Children's Theatre of Charlotte and Experiential Theater Company), and The Gun Show (Passage Theatre).
SIDNEY MARTINEZ, SCENIC DESIGNER, is a senior Technical Theater major with a double minor in Sociology and Gender & Sexuality Studies. Rider credits include: The One Act Play That Goes Wrong (Production Stage Manager), Polaroid Stories (Scenic Designer), Hänsel und Gretel (Production Stage Manager), Rider Dances: Negotiating Balance (Production Stage Manager), Rider New Works ‘20 (Stage Manager), Girls Like That (Assistant Stage Manager), Bright Star (Assistant Stage Manager). She also received The Kennedy Center’s Certificate of Merit: Excellence as a Stage Management Team (2019).
KATHARINE MCLEOD, DIRECTOR (she/her), is an actor, director, and educator based in Brooklyn, NY. She has performed with companies across the US and Canada, including Primary Stages, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Geva Theatre Center, Cape May Stage, Public Theatre of Maine, Vermont Shakespeare Company, and Sudbury Theatre Centre. Directing work includes Marie Antoinette and Good Night Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) for Theatre at Grenfell, BFF and Exit, Pursued by a Bear for SFUAD, and April Shorts for NY
Madness. Katharine is currently on faculty at Circle in the Square and has been a guest artist at the Memorial University of Newfoundland, the Santa Fe University of Art and Design, and Willamette University. She holds a BA in Theatre and Performance Studies from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MFA in Acting from the University of Washington.
CRAIG PINCUS, SOUND DESIGNER (he/him), has worked in professional audio & system design for the past twenty-seven years. He has engineered audio for musical theater, television broadcast, and recording studio performances. Craig holds a Bachelor's degree in communication from Rutgers University and teaches audio production at Brookdale Community College in Lincroft, NJ. Craig also performs live music, operates a small sound production company, and owns the TheatreCraft Musical Program, a children’s theater company, with his wife Renee, producing and musically directing popular full-scale performances, improvisational showcases, and acting & voice classes in the central New Jersey area.
SAMANTHA SCHUCHT, PROJECTION OPERATOR (she/her), is currently a sophomore at Rider University, majoring in Theatre Design and Technology as well as Arts and Entertainment Industries Management. Past Rider credits: ISM Cabaret (Assistant Stage Manager), Rider New Works (Sound Designer) and Urinetown (Sound Operator).
SULLY SULLIVAN, STAGE MANAGER (she/they), is a sophomore Contemporary Theatre Practice major with a minor in Fine Art. Rider credits include: Lonely Hearts Club Cabaret (Soloist, RSTC), Carrie (Prop Master, RSTC), The One-Act Play That Goes Wrong (Stage Manager), Rider New Works 2022 (Stage Manager), Hänsel und Gretel (Assistant Stage Manager). Regional Credits include: All Shook Up (Natalie Heller), The Sound of Music (Production Stage Manager), Little Shop of Horrors (Audrey)
YOSHINORI TANOKURA, SCENIC DESIGNER, originally from Tokyo, is currently teaching scenic design at Rider University in Lawrenceville, NJ. Yoshi holds a M.A. in Scenography from Central Saint Martins’ College of Art & Design in London and an M.F.A. in Set Design from the University of Connecticut. As a freelance designer, his design credits include Moon Over Buffalo (People’s Light & Theatre), Clever Little Lies by Joe DiPietro (Westside Theatre, NYC), Exonerated (Delaware Theatre Company), and Peter and the Starcatcher (Adrienne Arsht Center). Yoshi assisted John Lee Beatty on a
number of Broadway productions, such as Venus in Fur, Doubt, and The Color Purple. Yoshi is a member of the United Scenic Artists, Local 829.
ELLEE JO TROWBRIDGE, PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER (she/her), is a sophomore BA Musical Theater and Theater Design & Technology double major. Rider credits include: Pippin (Assistant Stage Manager), ISM Cabaret (Stage Manager), Danny Feldman’s Hide and Seek (Stage Manager), Children’s Hour (Assistant Stage Manager) Love and Information is her first Rider production as Production Stage Manager. Rider performance credits include: Rebirth: Freshman Showcase, Into the Spotlight: A Tribute to Stephen Sondheim, and Magic to Do Cabaret (Featured Performer, RSTC).
CARLY MICHELLE WALTON, COSTUME DESIGNER (she/her), is currently a junior Musical Theatre major with a French minor at Rider University. Rider credits include: The One Act Play That Goes Wrong (Assistant Costume Designer), Cabaret (Assistant Costume Designer), Clean Slate (Swing, U/S Gina + Sarah, Dance Captain), Cabaret (Frenchie, U/S Fraulein Schneider), The French Lesson (Playwright, Rider New Works 2022). Other credits include: Crazy for You (Elaine) at San Diego Musical Theatre
About Rider University and The Department of Performing Arts
Located in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, Rider University is a private coeducational, student-centered university that emphasizes purposeful connections between academic study and real-world learning experience. Rider prepares graduates to thrive professionally, to be lifelong independent learners, and to be responsible citizens who embrace diversity, support the common good, and contribute meaningfully to the changing world in which they live and work.
The College of Arts and Sciences is dedicated to educating students for engaged citizenship, career success, and personal growth in a diverse and complex world. The college cultivates intellectual reflection, artistic creativity, and academic maturity by promoting both broad academic inquiry and in-depth disciplinary study, while nurturing effective and ethical applications of transferable critical skills. The College consists of four schools: the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, the School of Communication, Media, and Performing Arts, the School of Science, Technology, and Mathematics, and Westminster Choir College.
Through its dynamic mix of academic programs, The Department of Performing Arts helps aspiring professional performers, producers, managers, designers, technicians and entrepreneurs find their unique path in an everevolving industry. Acknowledged as innovative and contemporary, the Department of Performing Arts aspires to build a more equitable, engaging and sustainable future for the performing arts while exploring the many diverse historical, cultural, social and creative threads that add to our rich tapestry.
Upcom ing Performances
WESTMINSTER CHOIR PERFORMS IN THE NEW YORK CHORUS FESTIVAL
March 30 at 8:00 p.m.
Carnegie Hall
LAST WORDS (SPRING OPERA)
April 1 at 7:30 p.m.
April 2 at 2:30 p.m.
Rider University – Bart Luedeke Center Theater
NO FEAR, JUST PASSION: THE FIRST & SECOND YEAR ACTING SHOWCASE
April 14 at 7:30 p.m.
April 15 at 7:30 p.m.
Rider University – Yvonne Theater
WESTMINSTER CHOIR: SERENITY OF SOUL
April 15; 6:00pm-8:30pm
Rider University – Gill Chapel
WESTMINSTER CHOIR: SERENITY OF SOUL AT SAINT PETER’S CHURCH ON CAPITOL HILL
April 16 at 7:30 p.m.
Saint Peter’s Church on Capitol Hill, Washington D.C.
WESTMINSTER SYMPHONIC CHOIR: CARMINA BURANA
April 21 at 7:30 p.m.
The George Washington Ballroom at The War Memorial, Trenton, NJ.
WESTMINSTER CHAPEL CHOIR: LOVE AND GLORY
April 22 at 7:30 p.m.
Rider University – Gill Chapel
JUBILEE SINGERS SPRING CONCERT
April 23 at 7:30 p.m.
Rider University – Gill Chapel
KISS ME, KATE
April 28 at 7:30 p.m.
April 29 at 2:00 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
April 30 at 2:00 p.m.
Rider University – Bart Luedeke Center Theater
WESTMINSTER CONCERT BELL CHOIR: DESPITE THE STORM
Saturday April 29 at 4:00 p.m.
Rider University – Gill Chapel
