Love by every which way
Christopher R.
Showcasing the different aspects of love, the spring play “Love/Sick” will premiere on April 19 at 4 p.m., with two more shows on April 20 and 21 at 7 p.m.
“Love/Sick” is broken into nine different vignettes, each having a different angle on love, relationships, or marriage. Director David Harmon explains it as “a hilarious comedy with a ton of featured performances.”
The quick changes between the short stories keeps the play moving at a rapid pace and allows for actors to shine in their individual roles. “It has different scenes with different couples in different scenarios,” senior Lucas Banks said. “All characters are tied to one specific scene and they won’t appear in any other. All these scenes come together to tell an overarching story.”
Since everyone is a “‘lead,’ it offers a great chance to refine everyone’s acting chops. The show is considered an un-romantic comedy; you really won’t know which stories end well and which won’t,” Harmon said.
Unlike the huge ensemble cast that would appear on stage during the musical, “the difficult part of this show is that it’s very one-on-one,” senior Zack Nelson said. “It’s a lot tighter because there are only two people in one scene, and all the scenes are separate. So it’s hard to bond with other members that are in different vignettes.”
To fix this issue, Nelson said, “they built in-cast bonding activities during their rehearsals to be able to create a more connected team.”
There’s also an issue with handling a play where students act for only a short amount of time. “Because each pair of actors is only in one scene, it can be difficult to maintain focus,” Harmon said. “Some actors might be waiting as much as an hour before they come onto the stage for the first time.”
“It ups the stakes with each vignette,” Nelson said. The play changes themes and perspective of love. There are scenes where a couple talks about how bored [they are] with their relationships, and there’s another story where a couple is reconnected after having being separated and divorcing their respective spouses.”
Every scene is unique as to which aspect of a relationship it tries to showcase. With the continuous change in perspectives and complications, it shows that “love is complicated and it’s not always so straightforward,” Nelson said.
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