Pacific Theatre Presents LOVE/SICK By John Cariani

Is love always worth it? Pacific Theatre and guest producer Jalen Saip present John Cariani's Love/Sick. In this un-romantic comedy, six actors portray nine couples in stories that begin and end in the local SuperCentre and move in and out of their comfortable (and not-so-comfortable) home lives.

Love/Sick is a spiritual successor to Pacific's 2017 staging of Cariani's similarly themed Almost, Maine - although both shows present nine short stories that dabble in magical realism, Love/Sick deals with the desperate attempt to hold on to love amidst a myriad of obstacles. The show explores pressure and expectations that come with romance, and what comes after the thrill of infatuation. Characters struggle to express their feelings, sometimes supernaturally impeded as their anxieties and desires manifest in physical tics.

Actor Jalen Saip produced the show as an apprentice project at the theatre in the 2017-18 season, and has retained the original team for this expanded vision. "Relationships are beautiful and complicated and risky - Love/Sick is beautiful and complicated and risky!" she says. "What excites me about this show is how it exposes vulnerabilities in such a smart and unusual way and yet is still so truthful and relatable to the audience. This script makes me laugh and cry and feel understood - I've loved it since day one."

Director Jamie King is no stranger to the Pacific Theatre stage, having directed (and soccer-coached) the Jessie-nominated production of The Wolves in October, 2018. King also recently helmed the Cultch's staging of Big Sister. Says King, "This play is about the moment before the fall. Standing on the precipice of the unknown, reaching out - not knowing if you should jump or if you'll topple over." And in Cariani's world, a magically conjured hand may be there to give you a push.

Love/Sick opens Friday, April 3rd and runs until April 25th at Pacific Theatre.

ARTISTIC TEAM

Directed by Jamie King. Featuring Randi Edmundson, Carlen Escarraga, Matthew MacDonald-Bain, Lucy McNulty, Jalen Saip, and Sean Sonier.

Lighting Design by Nicole Weismiller. Set Design by Paige Louter. Sound Design by Tessa Trach. Costume Design and Stage Management by Victoria Snashall.

To book visit pacifictheatre.org or call 604.731.5518

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