A new acrobatic dance-theatre piece from Prague, titled Hanging Man, will mark the next theatrical meal for audiences to feast on at N.Y.'s Kitchen, Mar. 3-6. The piece, which features four performers hanging upside down for the entire performance, attempts a new kind of physical interaction between performers and is presented in 11 sequences. The production is the U.S. Premiere for the Mime Center of Berlin and the Czech "Alfred-in-the Courtyard" production company. Hanging Man is directed and choreographed by Ctibor Turba.

Born in 1944, Turba was the founder of a pantomime/theatre troupe based on the teachings of the patron saint of the surrealism movement, Alfred Jarry (The Ubu Plays). Turba and fellow collaborators (Boris Hybner, Richard Ryda, and Josef Platzer) rejected the elegance of the lyric pantomime of their day and favored instead works inspired by Beckett, Artaud, Jarry and Buster Keaton. Because of the nature of their work, the troupe had difficulties with local authorities until the Czech revolution of 1989, when playwright Vaclav Havel was named president of the country.

For more information about Hanging Man at The Kitchen, Mar. 3-6, call (212) 255-5793.

-- By Sean McGrath