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Plan B
‘Plan B’ features four men in suits and ties who develop and change in line with a sloping surface or plane (‘plan’ in French), ‘Plan B’. Playing with gravity, the piece highlights man’s ability to adapt to change.
PLAN B?
It’s an expression mainly used in crime or action films. We switch to plan B when plan A hasn’t worked. All that really appeals to me: build a plan and provide for a different one, all in the knowledge that if that one also fails, there will be no ‘plan C’. The characters in ‘Plan B’ are in this state of mind; of action, hope and fragility. They are alone with their plans…
GROUND PLAN?
‘Plan B’ is the second show in a trilogy that brings together juggling and acrobatics in a limited space. In ‘IJK’, the work on the cube and volume revealed the rhythm and musicality of juggling, offering a new perception of this discipline: instead of making it visible and tackling it from its visual side, we wanted to make it audible. With ‘Plan B’, this is the plan we are exploring, which puts set design at the centre of our work. This particular geometry imposes a certain link to movement and acrobatics, a tenuous link to the laws of physics. We aim to invest it as much as possible, and to find out what dreams, qualities and pitfalls are hidden behind this dialogue with gravity.
PLAN-SÉQUENCE?
The decomposition of movement brings us back to film and the photo, with the work of Muybridge or Marey as an example (who, incidentally, were very interested in acrobatics). For film, I could cite Méliès, who used the artifices of film to create magic and illusion. ‘Plan B’ is a nod to him, except that with us, artifice does not disappear behind an illusion; on the contrary, it is very much about highlighting the device, underlining its simplicity, the poverty of technical means – retaining only its poetic content. Different parts of the show are inspired by film, citing Keaton for example, who is still the reference for actors, in that his work consisted of appropriating several artistic practices. We love this approach; summoning music, acrobatics, juggling and dance to the stage as ways to carry out our work as actors.
PLAN OF ATTACK?
My role was specifically to come up with the main approaches, or axes, for ‘Plan B’, and then to bring together the artistic team. I then had the idea of offering the production to Phil Soltanoff, who wasn’t used to this type or project. It’s teamwork; the actors are multi-skilled. Light and sound have a strong presence. Everyone helps with the production, starting with the initial constraints, especially those relating to set design. This produced an artistic aspect, which Phil Soltanoff used to develop his direction.
Source : Interview with Aurélien Bory by Stéphane Boitel (Journal du Théâtre Garonne, January 2003
