tuesday night at big bear.

banished? productions will unveil their so-secret-that-we-only-sent-the-press-release-two-days-ago
BALLADES MECHANIQUES (ver 1.0) story machine at
Big Bear Cafe
(1700 1st St NW - that's 1st & R, near Florida Ave if that helps)
a fabulous place that serves up the fantastic coffee by Counter Culture
OCTOBER 8-14, 2007.
Café hours: M-F, 7a-9p; Sa, 7:30a-6p; Su 9a-5p.
Play a play, or seven, for free. Donations are graciously accepted.


What pray tell is this gadgetry of alleged theatrical association?
Well, best if you came on down to this super-chill cafe and find out for yourself!

We will be having a low-key-post-opening fete at Big Bear Cafe on Tuesday, Oct 9th at 6pm .
The wee rations of champagne's on us, but coffee (and you know you want some!) and such intoxicating beverages as well-made mochas, lattes and mighty leaf teas are available at the cafe! Support us by supporting them too!

Ok, the real answer, if you really need one...

Made entirely of found and salvaged materials, BALLADES MECHANIQUE (ver 1.0) is a Rube Goldberg-inspired machine that fashions an individual sensory experience of the play for the audience member/user. The user selects a story, thus activating the machine and the experience. The plays are primarily performed with the assistance of digital video, which re-imagines the stories with animations and puppets, creating an aural/visual accompanist to Suzan-Lori Parks' rhythmically distinct and intensely succinct writing. Video is also used to instruct the user on how to discover the stories that require the assistance of the viewer, who manipulates hand cranks, buttons, switches and such to dispense the stories. banished? concept is hugely playful and borrows liberally from the Dadaist movement in its interpretation of its seven plays. The aim was to create a way of telling stories – an age-old practice and intrinsic human need – using a method that expressed a complex, multi-layered vision of the human being persevering in an irrevocably technological world.

Hope you can catch it!