Peak Performances to Welcome Raphaelle Boitel in THE FORGOTTEN/L'OUBLIEE

Raphaëlle Boitel, "one of the most remarkable performers on the European visual and physical theater scene," makes her directorial debut with The Forgotten/L'Oublié(e).

In it, a woman becomes three women as she searches for the man she loves. Wandering through the ruins of her memory, she encounters moments of ecstasy, secret dreams, and haunting apparitions. With extraordinary physical prowess, Boitel and her company of six fierce performers fly, soar and plunge to create a parallel world of startling beauty. The Forgotten catapults you into a dreamlike world of flight and fantasy to tell one woman's tale of loss, yearning, and discovery.

Raphaëlle Boitel began her career as a young girl when she and her family ran away to join the circus and study with the late great Annie Fratellini. A mesmerizing contortionist and seasoned circus performer Boitel toured the world with James Thierrée and his Junebug Symphony.

When she appeared in Spiegelworld's Desir in New York City, the New York Times' Ben Brantley described Raphaëlle as "truly ravishing." With The Forgotten/L'Oublié(e) Boitel infuses her directorial debut with the confidence and fearlessness of her remarkably strong and supple body and yet manages to create a romantic Lynch-ian surrealist dreamscape.

The Forgotten/L'Oublié(e) honors heroic French women like George Sand, the Countess Castiglione, Camille Claudel and Boitel's own mother, Lilou Herin who appears in the show and designed its costumes. The Forgotten/L'Oublié(e) represents an extraordinary new frontier in entertainment where theater, circus and dance joyously embrace and raise the stakes for both the performers and the audience. The startling, original music is by Arthur Bison, lighting is by Herve Frichet, sound is by Sylvain Lafourcade and Silvère Boitel.

Honored with a Citation for Excellence from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Peak Performances continues to reward its audience by presenting daring, world class entertainment at an affordable (and astonishing) $20 ticket.

IF YOU GO:

The Forgotten/L'Oublié(e) by Raphaëlle Boitel

Performances: Thursday, September 29 at 7:30 pm; Friday, September 30th at 7:30 pm; Saturday, October 1st at 8pm; and Sunday, October 2nd at 3pm.

Running time: 60 minutes, no intermission. Admission: $20 for all performances.

At The Alexander Kasser Theater at Montclair State University is located at 1 Normal Avenue, Montclair, New Jersey 07043.

Tickets are $20, and are available at the box office, www.peakperfs.org, or by calling 973-655-5112