The Four Senses of Love at the Pacific Resident Theatre with Sarah Zinsser and Ed Levey
Directed by Danielle Ozymandias, photo by Alex Moy.
Love may be blind, but in The Four Senses of Love, it has two more senses to overcome. CALDWELL has a hypothalamic disorder that has deadened his sense of touch. He has grown up unable to physically connect with anyone -
until he meets MELITA at a support group for the sensory deprived. She's been hiding the fact that the has no sense of taste. Funny, poignant, and hopeful, The Four Senses of Love has been produced more than any other play of mine, with casts of all ages, ethnic backgrounds and abilities.
The Four Senses of Love premiered in 2010 in Chicago, at the n.u.f.a.n. ensemble's Garden of Eatin' Festival, and has since been produced in New York at the Spoon Theatre, by Bite-Size Plays at the Brighton Fringe Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, received an "Excellence in Writing" Award at the Corner Cone Festival in Ohio, played at the Fine Arts Association in Willoughby, Ohio, the Future Ten Festival in Pittsburgh, the Lincoln Square Theatre in Chicago and the American Globe Theatre in New York, at the Pacific Resident Theatre and most recently by A Shot of Theatre in Massachusetts, and at the Tre Stage in Los Angeles, produced by Cre8tive Differences, where it won the Audience Award for Best Script, Best Director, Best Ensemble and Best Male Actor. (Best Female Actor lost by one vote.)
It is published by Smith and Kraus in 2012 The Best Ten Minute Plays.
Why this play?
I grew up the child of one of the world's foremost primatologists, so I don't even remember how young I was when I first learned about Harry Harlow's early experiments with baby rhesus monkeys and the importance of touch to childhood development. Caldwell's character was, for me, a thought experiment - how would a human version of a touch-deprived rhesus monkey turn out? And while I was playing with the mental gymnastics of that, I started playing with the idea of how to describe touch to someone who had none; that led to Melita's character to explore other sense challenges, and the idea of what taste might look like or sound like, and how malleable our senses actually are. It was a fun exploration of what makes us different and what brings us together in spite of our differences... which is, of course, a universal experience whatever our abilities.
Sample Dialogue...
Reviews
Chicago Theater calls it "Unique, lip-smacking, gourmet surprises.... The Four Senses of Love written by Arthur M. Jolly is a hilarious coupling of two members of a sensory-deprived support group." Read the review by Katy Walsh.
The Argus called the production at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival "An unusual romance... the perfect way to start the day." Read the review here.
Scotsman Top 100 Shows; The Observer Picks of the Fringe: 'A splendid showcase... without fail funny, strange and moving'. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ (fringereview.com); 'Go see this show, it's amazing! ★ ★ ★ ★ '(Scotsman); ★ ★ ★ ★(ThreeWeeks); ★ ★ ★ ★ (Scotsgay); ★ ★ ★ ★ (Broadwaybaby.com); 'A bountiful, brilliant feast!. Five mouth-watering theatrical delicacies to start each day' ★ ★ ★ ★ (Edinburgh Festival Guide).
There's a free monologue for Melita here. The play is published by Smith & Kraus in 2012 The Best Ten Minute Plays
If you're interested in producing or performing this play, please contact me directly.
