In a world on the brink of collapse, two men fight their way through a final, glorious show.

“PLAYWAR” is a new work of contemporary performance that grapples dynamically with issues of intimacy and aggression, truth and spectacle, hope and despair. Bringing together all of Urban Research Theater’s work on new theatrical forms, “PLAYWAR” is a virtuosic duet about the pleasures of conspiracy and the terrors of communion.

Beginning in 2009, the work was developed over three years and was shown at a variety of venues along the way, including the Center for Performance Research, Medicine Show Theatre, Where Eagles Dare Theater, the Movement Research Festival, the North American Cultural Laboratory, and Occupy Broadway. It was supported by a grant from the Manhattan Community Arts Fund and artistic residencies at Movement Research and LEIMAY-CAVE.

Our goal was to bring together training and research on embodied song, physical action and performance composition to address contemporary themes. In the final version, two nameless soldiers don glamorous evening wear to perform an impossible cabaret for a nonexistent audience. Original nonlexical songs and poetic texts were created by Ben Spatz, while Maximilian Balduzzi oversaw the rehearsal process.

The first question you ask is why. What could have brought them to this place? Of course, no answer is sufficient. So you invent your own answers.