About the Play:

Careless Love is a full-length drama by John Olive. A two hander about pregnancy, the actors' life, and the birth of love. A one-night stand between a selfish, career-oriented actor and a dancer results in her becoming pregnant. Her fierce determination to carry the child to term takes him places he never imagined he might go.

Careless Love is about commitment and responsibility in love. Jack is an actor who is beginning to get some noteworthy jobs, and Martha is an aspiring dancer who still must rely on waitress and receptionist jobs. They had a brief affair, and she's become pregnant. He says he'll pay for the abortion. But Martha feels that it is her body and her baby. She decides to have the baby and put it up for adoption, but Jack can't see beyond his own needs. By the time he realizes he wants to make an emotional commitment to Martha and their child, she has had the baby and put it up for adoption. Martha becomes a self sufficient contemporary woman; it is Jack who will hurt forever from the pain of eternal separation from his child.

Careless Love premiered in 1984 Wisdom Bridge Theatre in Chicago. The play has been performed in regional and college theatre productions.

Cast: 1 female, 1 male

What people say:

"In the delicacy of its writing, in the truth of its details...it is a most lovely, most satisfying evening in the theatre." — Chicago Tribune

"Works a winsome magic." — Philadelphia Daily News

"Careless Love is an all-too-real story about a maddening relationship between the right people at the wrong time." — SunSentinel

About the Playwright:

John Olive is a widely produced and award-winning American playwright. He is also a screenwriter, a novelist, and a popular teacher of creative writing. He lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.