CULT OF LOVE
Directed by Annie Tippe
World Premiere, IAMA Theatre Company, May 18-June 24, 2018
In Cult of Love, the Dahl family has gathered to celebrate Christmas in their rural Connecticut home. Raised as strict Christians and overachievers, the four adult children (along with their partners) have grown into varying degrees of belief and success. Their initially joyful reunion quickly reveals an American family riddled with competition, xenophobia and mental illness.
The Cult of Love acting ensemble includes Tom Amandes, Laila Ayad, Christian Durso, Tina Huang, John Lavelle, Graham Sibley, Melissa Stephens, Sarah Utterback, Keliher Walsh and Christine Woods.
Set design is by Jeffrey McLaughlin; lighting design is by Josh Epstein; sound design is by Christopher Moscatiello; costume design is by Melissa Trn; props are by Michael O’Hara; and the musical director is Anthony Lucca. The stage manager is Sarah Dawn Lowry, and Amy Rosoff Davis and Tom DeTrinis produce for IAMA Theatre Company.
““The beauty of this full length one act is the clear and well limned performances from every one of the characters. Director Annie Tippe allows her ensemble cast to function as a perfectly tuned machine while each character being, at once, a part of a strong family tradition, presents a well honed individual. Each character’s arc demands our full attention. The ensemble is organic. ...If professional writing and performances are reasons for coming to the theatre, The Cult of Love is a show that must not be missed. “”
“Director Annie Tippe manages Cult Of Love’s many overlapping conversations with finesse while eliciting one multi-layered performance after another from a uniformly superb, all-IAMA-member cast...””
“Director Annie Tippe guides the play’s action with precision and compassion, nailing its unique tone and tempo, and creating an environment in which the characters flourish; she gives them plenty of permission to fall apart.”
Photos by Dean Cechvala