F=Gm1m2/d2.
Well. Of course it does.
Newton’s Universal Law of Gravity is a pillar of physics, a monument of mathematics, a timeless, unchanging tribute to scientific reasoning.
Tell it all to Leo, when his world goes suddenly, inexplicably topsy-turvy. Though at first disconcerted, this unflappable everyman quickly grows curious and then increasingly playful, nonchalantly scaling the walls like a cross between Buster Keaton and Spiderman.
On Oct. 5 and 6, Edison will present Leo, the newest creation from Berlin’s Circle of Eleven, as part of its fall Ovations Series. Conceived by and starring the acrobatic Tobias Wegner, the surreal one-man show is “an eye-teasing, grin-inducing, deeply impressive work of sustained absurdist magic” (Time Out New York).
Leo
The winner of three major awards at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Leo cleverly splits the stage between live performance and video projection. The audience watches both versions at once.
Yet the camera is askew: the floor of one room becomes the wall of the other. A simple action, such as standing upright, can appear an impossible feat, while merely sitting can require virtuoso gymnastics, with Wegner casually positioned cross-legged on the wall.
But even while adjusting to such novel physics, Leo becomes lonely and eventually exhausted with his confinement. Soon, however, he discovers a new source of adventure, hidden within a mysterious suitcase that may, or may not, provide the key to freedom.
“The joy of Leo is partly seeing his gravity-defying antics as his world and ours collide,” says Three Weeks: Edinburgh. “Mostly, however, it’s from watching the amazing performance put in by Wegner as he presents an utterly convincing impression of altered gravity, dancing brilliantly and even playing the sax.”
Or, as The New York Times puts it, “the audience gets gravity-defying spectacle and the wizard behind the curtain at the same time.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqKG9hFZexsLeo
video preview
Tickets and sponsors
Performances of Leo take place at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 5 and 6. Tickets are $36, or $32 seniors, $28 for Washington University faculty and staff and $20 for students and children.
Tickets are available at the Edison Box Office and through all MetroTix outlets. Edison Theatre is located in the Mallinckrodt Center, 6445 Forsyth Blvd.
For more information, call (314) 935-6543, e-mail edison@wustl.edu or visit edison.wustl.edu.
Edison programs are made possible with support from the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency; the Regional Arts Commission, St. Louis; and private contributors.