Imagine a future in which a government agency spies on its citizens to shape their love lives. Playwright Don Zolidis creates such a scenario in "The NSA's Guide to Sex and Love." MadLab Theatre will present the world premiere, which will preview tonight and open Friday at its Downtown performing space. The 90-minute one-act play is suggested for mature audiences because of strong profanity and sexual innuendo.

Imagine a future in which a government agency spies on its citizens to shape their love lives.

Playwright Don Zolidis creates such a scenario in �The NSA's Guide to Sex and Love.�

MadLab Theatre will present the world premiere, which will preview tonight and open Friday at its Downtown performing space. The 90-minute one-act play is suggested for mature audiences because of strong profanity and sexual innuendo.

�It�s a hilarious, fast-paced comedy about this modern age of the surveillance state,� director Stephen Woosley said.

�The tone is lighthearted, but what struck me is a darker edge. How do we live in a modern state as citizens where we value our privacy? ... How much of our freedoms are we willing to give up?"

Set in an unidentified American city, the play takes place in a room in which the audience is watching a presentation by two agents of the National Security Agency offering surveillance tapes and advice to members of two couples.

�Their talk is a promotional effort to make the NSA seem more warm and cuddly,� actor Scott Douglas Wilson said.

Wilson plays Tom, a gung-ho agent.

�He�s almost a cartoonish take on a strait-laced federal agent, like Robert Stack in the 'Airplane' movies,� said Wilson, an Otterbein University graduate.

�There are times his calm, in-charge demeanor slips. When people don�t cooperate, Tom blows up with anger and frustration into an ultrapatriotic rant.�

Although it is a screwball comedy, the play has a subversive and absurdist edge, Wilson said.

�Tom believes wholeheartedly that everything the NSA is doing is good for the country and necessary to stop terrorism," he said, "even if that means spying and getting involved in people�s personal love lives.�

Tom works closely with NSA agent Gabrielle (Colleen Dunne) in giving advice to couples based on their surveillance. The agents advise both Daisy, who is involved with Chuck (Scott Clay), and Dan (Casey May), who is dating Alana (Laura Spires).

�They talk as if they�re just here to help, but they also have snarky asides,� Dunne said.

�They�re true believers in the government�s power to protect the people and its right to spy on everyone and violate their privacy.�

Dunne modeled aspects of her role on Leslie Knope, the midlevel bureaucrat played by Amy Poehler on the NBC series �Parks and Recreation.�

�Both are happy, driven bureaucrats, dedicated to their work,� Dunne said.

�Gabrielle is incredibly perky, excited and unstoppable," Dunne said. "She talks a lot, smiles and never flinches.�

The actress sees the play as a cautionary fable.

�Any couple has the opportunity to spy with today�s technology,� said Dunne, 28.

�I know couples who have GPS on each other�s phones so they know where each of them is at all times. Today, it�s so easy to do that with all the Facebook connections, contacts and smartphones."

Alanna G. Rex (a stage name for Alanna Gibson) is making her MadLab debut as Daisy.

�Daisy earnestly wants to have a normal love life, engagement and marriage,� said Rex, 26.

Daisy chose Chuck as a partner because of the agents� advice.

�Very attractive and out of Chuck�s league, Daisy is with Chuck because the NSA doesn�t make mistakes," Rex said. "They put in their algorithms based on the information gathered from spying and figured out that he was the best man.

�The characters trust that the NSA knows what it�s doing, but they learn there�s no formula or algorithm for love.�



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