The world in "Plunda," a new play by Jim Linnell, walks the line between the surreal and abstract and accessible, straightforward narrative.
I've been researching this play for a week now and still have no idea what to expect. But that's the point, and quite an effective one at that, because it sure as hell has got my curiosity smoldering with the flame of anticipation.
The production is a "bi-location" event, using Rodey Theatre and Theatre X and is described by director Kristen Loree as a "theater-movie." "Plunda" includes many levels of performance, from music, to dance, to spoken word poetry. In fact, there is nothing this play doesn't have.
Seeing a portion of the play in dress rehearsal, it becomes evident that this play is symbolic of the bombardment by monopolistic corporations and capitalist, moneymaking manifestos on this fictitious world.
The language is dense and very intense - lyrical, poetic, you know the gig. Think "RENT" as though it were written by Berthold Brecht.
The play is almost a modernized version of the genres of Surrealism and Dada, both of which were artistic/literary movements that took place around the 1920s. Surrealists sought to use atypical combinations of words and images in order to expose higher stages of transcendental knowledge while the Dada movement sought to affront the uprising of the bourgeoisie.
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Primarily, this play is about the search for truth and justice in a world that becomes tainted with corruption.
The story involves a group of young artists, many of whom are squatters in an old, abandoned warehouse where cabarets and rave-like gatherings are held. This "industrial site," known as ClubDADA, is the operating space for the Web site created by these characters.
When the play opens, Joseph, the main character, has just landed on the "moon," which is in actuality the second floor of the club artistically altered by the kids of DADA to imitate the moon's surface. Unfortunately, ClubDADA is located next to a business called HAPPINESS.COM, the emblematic corporation cartel.
When the owners of HAPPINESS.COM discover that ClubDADA has been milking their electric and telephone lines, they raid the realms of ClubDADA and the moon project and threaten to buy it out. Thus, the story becomes one of opposition, with the vital question being "Will the members of ClubDADA sell out to the fascist, upper-class, money-mongers of the world?"
The innovation of this play, though, lies more in the conceptual aspects of its production than anything else. The play is set to take place in two spaces concurrently, with Rodey Theatre being staged as the moon project and Theatre X being ClubDADA.
In a recent video interview with Elsa Mendez, Linnell called the production "a technological monster," saying that "it's like someone hit you over the head with an ax and divided your brain."
In each theater there will be video screens that will display the action taking place in the other performance space, allowing the audience the opportunity to see two separate views of the same storyline.
"No one I know of has attempted to do this, and that is to create a narrative-driven, character-based play that is told simultaneously through two theaters," Linnell said.
He also acknowledged that "the difficulty and challenge [of the piece] is going to be to let the action that happens in both spaces be overlapping so that you're taking in information that you're not necessarily conscious of."
There. I hope you're as confused and as curious as I am.
"Plunda" will hold its gala opening tonight at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 on opening night only and will include food, visual displays, random DADA performance and a post-show club dance with guest DJ Reduction Valve.
The production will run March 28 and 29 at 7:30 p.m., March 30 at 2 p.m., and will continue through April 2-5 at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are regularly $10 for adults, $8 for faculty, staff and seniors and $6 for students. Tickets are available at the UNM Box office, by calling 925-5858 or by going to www.Tickets.com.
For more information, visit the ClubDADA kids' Web site at www.plunda.net.
