Written and performed in a time when hashtags such as #MeToo and #BelieveWomen exemplify the changing social dynamic, Kate Cortesi’s new play, Love, examines the uncertainties beyond the slogans by drawing and redrawing the unsteady lines of power dynamics related to gender and consent.
“In 2017, as more and more #MeToo stories were coming to light … I felt a certain brand of story was missing from the public dialogue,” said Cortesi. “In private, my friends and I were obsessively chronicling a whole spectrum of experiences with men and women in the workplace and in the bedroom. … We were puzzling over pretty confusing scenarios.”
In Love, Penelope (Faline England) maintains a close friendship with her ex-lover (and former boss), Otis (Joe Spano). She’s disturbed when approached by a group of Otis’s other ex-employees who are going public with allegations of sexual harassment in the workplace. Penelope’s experience with Otis was consensual — even loving. She can’t concede that Otis is predatory, but with both sides of the story coming out, questions arise about the legitimacy of her experiences and the veracity of the other women’s claims.