@

THE POD PROJECT
Begins January 31, 2007 at 20 Greene

Nancy Bannon and Tony Award winner Brian MacDevitt present THE POD PROJECT beginning January 31 at 20 Greene. Inspired by elevator rides, this unique theatrical experience offers audiences thirteen short scenes performed for one audience member at at time. Created and directed by Nancy Bannon, each scene is performed within an enclosed "pod" created specially for the project. Enclosure heightens the senses, giving each scene immediacy as it unfolds inches away from the viewer.

In THE POD PROJECT, thirteen audience members gather together in a lounge. Individual audience members are personally ushered into a landscape of large, glowing, cylindrical pods. He or she is assigned a pod to enter and become part of a private one-on-one performance. Crossing the threshold, you may pop into: a dentist's office, a mountaintop ski-lift, a cocoon, a peep-show, a snow globe, or a bathroom with a woman in the shower. The scene content ranges from highly interactive to resolvedly voyeuristic. Opening the door to a chamber you may find: a woman listing what she doesn't want you to know; a sleeping man and a hillside of glistening white sheep; a waitress playing "Die Valkyrie" on water glasses; a bespectacled man in a melting caterpillar suit talking about the future; a woman behind a table of wigs; or a little girl singing beside her weary mother. Once the lights fade, each viewer is guided to his next destination, eventually experiencing the full complement of scenes. Highly individualized, no two viewers have the same experience.

The production stars Debra Winger (three-time Academy Award nominee for Shadowlands, Terms of Endearment and An Officer and a Gentlemen), Bob Moss (Playwrights Horizons founder), Marc Kenison, Stephanie Liapis, Risa Steinberg, Arnie Apostol, Keith Johnson, Megan Brunsvold, Tricia Nelson, Jennifer Gillespie, Rick Meese, Dr. Jose Souto, Netta Yerushalmy, Ryan Corriston, and Lily Fischer with lighting design by Brian MacDevitt and costumes by Ilona Somogyi (Wit, God of Hell, Cavedweller, Fucking A).

Nancy Bannon is the recipient of two Princess Grace Awards and a 2001 Bessie Award. She received her BFA from Juilliard where she met Doug Varone and joined his company after graduation. Nancy is known for creating many roles for Varone as well as teaching and directing Varone's works internationally from 1991- 2000. Her own projects have been presented at Danspace Project at St. Mark's Church, Movement Research at Judson Church, the 92nd Street Y, BAX, Joyce SoHo and many universities. She served as consultant and actors' coach for Match on Broadway, directed by Nicholas Martin and as a member of selection panels for The Princess Grace Foundation dance awards and Movement Research. She has also performed with Tere O'Connor Dance and Lar Lubavitch. Nancy is active as a writer and actor with Naked Angels.

Brian MacDevitt is the recipient of two Tony Awards and four additional nominations for Best Lighting Design. His lighting design credits include The Vertical Hour, The Coast of Utopia, The Wedding Singer, The Color Purple, The Pillowman, Sweet Charity, Fiddler on the Roof, Henry IV at Lincoln Center, Nine, Into the Woods, and Tom Stoppard's Invention of Love. Brian has designed at The Public, Manhattan Theater Club, Playwrights Horizons, New York Theater Workshop, ABT, Boston Ballet, LA's Mark Taper, Kennedy Center, Dancespace Project, La Mama, and on London's' West End. He has received an Obie Award for Sustained Excellence and a Bessie for his collaboration with choreographer Tere O'Connor.

THE POD PROJECT runs January 31 - February 11 with shows at 7:30pm & 9:00pm. (Note: no shows February 6.) No latecomers will be admitted. 20Greene Gallery is located at 20 Greene Street between Canal and Grand Streets, accessible from the A-C-E-N-R-6 to Canal Street. Running time: 1 hour. Tickets are $25, available at BrownPaperTickets.com or 1-800-838-3006.