Premiere Production of PLUTO (no longer a play) Comes to The Brick
By: A.A. Cristi May. 09, 2017
The Brick Theater presents the world premiere of PLUTO (no longer a play), the latest from New York-based collective Superhero Clubhouse and the final installment of their Planet Plays series. PLUTO tackles the subject of mass extinction as three humans attempt to give a presentation about The Remains of a play that no longer exists. The fragments seem to suggest the story of a unicorn, a hunter, and a wizard, all struggling to adapt to a rapidly changing world. Facing similar dilemmas, the three humans reenact their findings, searching for hope among the bones.
PLUTO is dynamic, simple, and strange. Through a subversion of the "play within a play" structure, PLUTO asks critical questions about confronting the grim realities of rapid biodiversity loss in the face of an unparalleled surge in human activity and population. Models predict that fifty percent of all known species on Earth will be gone before the end of the century. With offbeat humor and imagination, PLUTO examines the urgency, complacency, and confusion surrounding mass extinction, and explores how to proceed in a reality where magnificent loss seems inevitable.
The production marks a milestone for Superhero Clubhouse as the culmination of a decade of continuous development and production in New York City. The Planet Plays series is a cornerstone of the company's mission: providing a laboratory to experiment with the intersection of performance and environmental science. Superhero Clubhouse uses a holistic approach to theater-making in which content, process, and production are tethered to complex environmental questions; this includes use of a solar-powered grid to light the space, designing with recycled materials, and creating content based on "impossible questions"-- paradoxes that have no universal answer.
PLUTO (no longer a planet) is co-created by Jonathan Camuzeaux, William Cook, Lanxing Fu, Nikki Holck, Megan McClain, Jeremy Pickard. It is directed by Jeremy Pickard with assistant direction by Lanxing Fu. It features performances by William Cook, Lanxing Fu, Courtney Williams, and Brittany N. Williams. Lighting design is by Jay Maury, music composition by Jonathan Camuzeaux, sound design by Trevor New, and choreography by Nikki Holck. It is written by Jeremy Pickard and Lanxing Fu, with dramaturgy by Megan McClain. It is production managed by Santino Lo, stage managed by Emma Johnson, and produced by Bailey Williams.
Performance Schedule:
Thursday May 11 at 8pm *preview
Friday May 12 at 8pm *preview
Saturday May 13 at 8pm *opening
Sunday May 14 at 2pm
Thursday May 18 at 8pm
Friday May 19 at 8pm
Saturday May 20 at 8pm
Wednesday May 24 at 8pm
Thursday May 25 at 8pm
Friday May 26 at 8pm
Thursday June 1 at 8pm
Friday June 2 at 8pm
Saturday June 3 at 2pm
Saturday June 3 at 8pm
Run time is 70 minutes without an intermission.
Tickets are $20.
Location:
The Brick Theater is located at 575 Metropolitan Avenue in Brooklyn (between Union Avenue and Lorimer Street). L train to Lorimer stop. G to Metropolitan stop.
More info at:
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
SUPERHERO CLUBHOUSE
Superhero Clubhouse is a New York-based collective of artists and scientists working at the intersection of environmentalism and theater. We create fictional performances rooted in complex environmental questions, practice ecological production, and collaborate across disciplines and communities to enact a thriving society. We believe theater is an essential tool for evolving our consciousness in the face of global environmental crises.
Superhero Clubhouse has been presented and produced by The Bushwick Starr, La Mama ETC, Upright Egg Theater Company, Minneapolis Fire Hall & Museum, Dixon Place, Center for Performance Research, The Tank, Wild Project, Drama League, Space on Ryder Farm and Flux Factory. We have received support from the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, The Puffin Foundation, The New Victory Theater, Billion Oyster Project, Catwalk Institute, Lacawac Nature Sanctuary and Field Station, Ballroom Marfa, Mertz Gilmore Foundation/Center for Performance Research, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, The Drama League, iLAND, Denmark's Odin Teatret, NYC's Department of Education, World Science Festival, NACL/Deep Space, Human Impacts Institute, PositiveFeedback, ArtLab, Makehouse, Figment Festival, Studio 51 LegaCy Grant, and the Dragon's Egg.
Jeremy Pickard founded Superhero Clubhouse in 2007, and has since become a leading voice on theater and environmentalism. In 2015 his essay "On Eco-Theater" was published by TCG in the book Innovations in Five Acts, edited by Caridad Svich. Jeremy is the lead playwright, co-creator, and co-director of the Planet Play series, Flying Ace and the Storm of the Century, and Salty Folk. He remains the Program and Production Director for the annual Big Green Theater Festival, which he co-created with Maria Portman Kelly and The Bushwick Starr in 2009. Originally from a small town outside Syracuse, NY, Jeremy is an alumnus of Ithaca College and the National Theater Institute, and trained extensively with Siti Company for eight years. He wears many hats including director, performer, writer, and producer.
Lanxing Fu is a Chinese-American writer, director, and performer. In addition to being a lead administrator, Lani is the project director for the Living Stage and a co-creator of PLUTO and JUPITER. She holds a B.A. in Humanities, Science, and Environment and a B.A. in Theatre Arts from Virginia Tech. She has collaborated and led interdisciplinary theater projects about contemporary consumerism, globalization, and the environment in Sri Lanka, Morocco, Turkey, and the United States, with work commissioned by Virginia's New River Valley Planning District and a grant from The Center for 21st Century Studies. In 2015, Lanxing was selected to participate in JACK's "Creating Dangerously" workshop (led by Virginia Grise and Kyla Searle), and was a member of Orchard Project's 2015 Core Company.
ABOUT THE BRICK:
Winner of the The Caffe Cino Fellowship Award, The Brick is Williamsburg, Brooklyn's destination for cutting-edge theatrical experience. The Brick and its company, The Brick Theater, Inc, were founded in 2002 by Robert Honeywell and Michael Gardner. Formerly an auto-body shop, a yoga center, and various storage spaces, this brick-walled garage in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, was completely refurbished as a state-of-the-art performance space.
The Brick has been home to many critically acclaimed premieres, including Bouffon Glass Menajoree (NY IT Award Winner-Outstanding Play), In a Strange Room (Time Out New York's Top Ten Plays), Samuel & Alasdair: A Personal History of the Robot War (NY IT Award Winner-Outstanding Play), Suspicious Package (ITBA Award Winner-Best Unique Theatrical Experience), Craven Monkey and the Mountain of Fury (NY IT Award Nominee-Outstanding Performance Art Production), and Greed: a Musical Love $tory (NY IT Award Nominee-Outstanding Musical), The Brick has hosted some of downtown theater's most innovative artists, including Annie Baker, Young Jean Lee, The Debate Society, Thomas Bradshaw and Nick Jones.
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