This head, foot and hand belong to the same guy

A gravity-defying act from France that combines acrobatics with video art, humour and theatre, unfolds in the city tonight

The Taj Mahal, Satyajit Ray and the world's spiritual nucleusu00a0-- for Aurelien Bory and Phil Soltanoff, India starts and ends with these exotic stereotypes. Maybe, a widening of worldview is in order. But today, it's you, the audience, who will spend the evening redefining perceptions, thanks to a team of four French guys led by an American director.

Plan B in action

As part of the Bonjour India French culture festival that's currently on in the country, Toulouse-based Compagnie 111 comes to Mumbai with Plan B, a performance that's sure to make you rub your eyes in wonder. At some point, there might be shiny, white balls that magically suspend in air, followed by men sliding off at impossible angles from a two-dimensional plane.

"But it's difficult to summarize what you are going to be in for," shrugs Auru00e9lien Bory, artistic director of the French troupe. You can call it theatre, but there are no dialogues or mime. "There is acrobatics and juggling, but then again, we are not putting up a circus," says Soltanoff, the Obie award-winning director of NYC's radical theater troupe, Mad Dog, who has collaborated with Compagnie 111 for this performance. Plan B, the company's second installment in the trilogy, combines the best of theatre, circus, music, dance, magic, shadow play and video art, making it a performance that defies the physical laws of space and gravity.

Each of Compagnie 111's performances have a starting point. So, while the two earlier performances from the trilogy deal with volume and lines, this one explores a plane. "This plane can go from inclined to vertical to even horizontal," explains Bory. "We don't care much for what this means to people, because that differs from person to person. What we do care about is what it will do to you and how it can move your imagination with regard to space and geometry."

All this, we are told, is replete with humour and poetry. But since not a single word is uttered throughout the performance, the show gains a universality of its own. It's tough to categorise, but it's sure to defy genre and gravity.u00a0u00a0

On: Today and tomorrow at 7.30 pm. At Jamshed Bhabha Auditorium, National Center for Performing Arts (NCPA), Nariman Point. Limited admission passes available at the venue.
Call: 22824567

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