PLAN B
A Unique Theatrical Spectacle Makes U.S. Debut
October 1 - 17, 2004

The 2004-05 season opens with an exhilarating collaboration between the Toulouse-based Compagnie 111 (CIE 111) and Phil Soltanoff, the Obie Award-winning director of NYC’s radical theater troupe mad dog. With a wonderous mix of "magical inventiveness, technical perfection, humor and poetry" (La Depeche du Midi), Plan B is a category-defying production that pits four thrill-seeking businessmen against an imposingly colossal geometric plane. Making its U.S. debut at The New Victory Theater from Friday, October 1 through Sunday, October 17, PLAN B challenges the limits of space, perspective and gravity.

Having thrilled international audiences with its fantastical production, IJK, that explored the concept of volume, CIE 111 invited Phil Soltanoff to direct the second installment in its trilogy of spatially inspired work, Plan B. Probing for the mysterious in the ordinary, CIE III uses everything from acrobatics to kung-fu fighting to extreme sports to tackle the topsy-turvy landscape of an unusual plane. First, the ever-shifting structure begins at a 45° 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°, 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. Accentuated by pulsating music and extraordinary video imagery, Plan B is a technically audacious production that redefines the perception of physical theater.

Directed by Phil Soltanoff, Plan B is performed by Aurélien Bory, Olivier Alenda, Loic Praud and Alexandre Rodoreda with sound design by Stéphane Ley, costumes by Sylvie Marcucci, lighting by Arno Veyrat and sets 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. That same year, mad dog was also invited to create a new work for The Williamstown Theatre Festival during a residency at Mass MoCA. His directing credits include: to whom it may concern (featured in The Belgrad International Theatre Festival), Peter Handke’s The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other, Strange Attractors and LEMnation. Mr. Soltanoff is also the founder of the I.U.A. (Institute of Useless Activity).

Aurélien Bory and Olivier Alenda founded CIE 111 in 1999 to explore theatrical works that speak through movement. Directed by Christian Coumin, their first show IJK debuted in 2000 and toured throughout France and abroad. In 2002, they invited Phil Soltanoff to collaborate on the second part of the trilogy, PLAN B, which debuted in 2003 to universal acclaim. Mr. Soltnaoff, Mr. Bory and Mr. Alenda will again collaborate on the final piece of the trilogy, More or Less, Infinity, which investigates the spatial complexities of line. Mr. Bory is a conceptual designer and scenographer who studied architectural acoustics and cinema. Both a director and performer, Mr. Bory met Olivier Alenda while working on the production of L’Odyssée at Le Lido - Toulouse Circus Arts Centre. Mr. Alenda also studied at the National Circus School of Montreal, and in 1995, he created a prize-winning piece, which received honors at Festival Circa and la Piste aux Espoirs.

The performance schedule for PLAN B at The New Victory Theater is:
Friday, October 1 7:00 pm
Saturday, October 2 2:00 pm & 7:00 pm
Sunday, October 3 3:00 pm
Friday, October 8 7:00 pm*
Saturday, October 9 2:00 pm & 7:00 pm
Sunday, October 10 3:00 pm VicTeens/JVT
Wednesday, October 13 7:00 pm* **
Thursday, October 14 7:00 pm
Friday, October 15 7:00 pm
Saturday, October 16 2:00 pm* & 7:00 pm
Sunday, October 17 3:00 pm
* Talk Back with performers ** Sign-Interpreted Performance

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 West 42nd Street, just west of Broadway), Sunday and Monday, 11:00 am - 5:00 pm, Tuesday - Saturday, 12:00 pm - 7:00 pm.