So Meta: The Audience Works with Actors to Solve a Depression-era Mystery

It’s a riddle, wrapped in mystery cloaked in a theater curtain. The world premiere of Cleveland Heights playwright Jonathan Wilhelm’s meta-theatrical play, The Knife is the Money, the Fork is Love, follows Tobias, a pulp fiction-obsessed boy who’s searching for the secrets of his mysterious financial wealth in the Great Depression. After receiving a cryptic package, Tobias hunts down members of a secret society who may hold the answers to his questions. In the theater, meanwhile, a group of actors pause the story to provide historical context and work with the audience to solve Tobias’ Depression-era enigma. “[The show] is about finding a secret and what kind of knowledge an audience needs to bring to a play,” explains Wilhelm. The Knife is the Money, the Fork is Love breaks the barrier between the audience and the actors. “The goal is to stretch the boundaries of theater.” 

Dec. 2-17, Convergence-Continuum, convergence-continuum.org