Plan B "challenges the limits of space, perspective and gravity," according to the announcement. The show is a collaboration between the Toulouse-based Compagnie 111 (CIE 111) and Phil Soltanoff, the Obie Award-winning director of the New York City troupe, mad dog.
The piece "uses everything from acrobatics to kung-fu fighting to extreme sports to tackle the topsy-turvy landscape of an unusual plane," according to New Victory, the 42nd Street theatre devoted to works aimed at family audiences. "First, an ever-shifting plane begins at a 45 degree incline, which allows the men to flip and slide at impossible angles across its surface. Just when they become accustomed to its smoothly alluring shape, the plane moves to 90-degree angle, becoming a towering, 20 foot wall. The quartet attempts to conquer the barricade with bungee cords, Velcro suits and suction cup climbing gear, but before it is dominated, the plane moves again."
Pulsing music and video images are part of the experience. The show promises to be "a technically audacious production that redefines the perception of physical theatre."
Plan B is performed by Aurelien Bory, Olivier Alenda, Loic Praud and Alexandre Rodoreda. Sets are by Christian Meurisse with Harold Guidolin and Pierre Dequivre.
Phil Soltanoff is best known in New York as the director of mad dog, the experimental company in residence at five myles performance space in Brooklyn. As part of five myles, he won an Obie Award in 2000. Aurlien Bory and Olivier Alenda founded CIE 111 in 1999 to explore theatrical works that speak through movement. In 2002, they invited Phil Soltanoff to collaborate on the second part of a trilogy, Plan B, which debuted in 2003 to acclaim. Soltnaoff, Bory and Alenda will again collaborate on the final piece of the trilogy, More or Less, Infinity, which "investigates the spatial complexities of line."
Tickets for Plan B are $10, $20 and $30 and can be ordered by visiting Telecharge.com or by calling (212) 239-6200. Tickets are also on sale at the New Victory box office, 209 W. 42nd Street, just west of Broadway.
For more information, visit www.newvictory.org.
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The New Victory Theater, a New 42nd Street project, is New York City's theatre for kids and families. Built by Oscar Hammerstein in 1900 and opened as the Theatre Republic, it established 42nd Street as the heart of New York's theatre district. Ninety-five years later, The New Victory was the first historic theatre to be renovated on the block, and its opening, on Dec. 11, 1995, sparked the renaissance of 42nd Street.
