Patio Plastico | 1999

Illustration and Poster design: Pedro Silva

Parking lot on 2nd and Vine Streets
Philadelphia Fringe Festival

The Philadelphia Inquirer
September 21, 1999
by Miriam Seidel

Goofiness Sublime

Precision dancing under the stars, and a waterslide - what more could you ask of Fringe performance? Brian Sanders’ Patio Plastico, performed by the Junk ensemble, delivered these and more in a sublimely goofy piece that at times slid into just plain sublime.

A patch of Astroturf, a suite of plastic lawn furniture, and music ranging from bossa-nova lounge to gushy movie-scoe tracks infused the parking-lot site with bubbly, Fellini-like glamour. The drill team of 10 (nine women plus Sanders) entered and hoofed around the Astroturf’s edge, dressed in neon-yellow plastic coveralls, goggles and squeaky plastic clogs made from two-liter soda bottles.

Entering the “lawn” (sans clogs) they pirouetted, high-kicked, lounged and shared cocktails, animated a long-ago dream of sunny Tupperware elegance; Sanders did a turn as a surfer hero on a swimming-pool float. A climactic water-gun display created the aforementioned water-slide opportunity.

There’s hardly a false move in this tightly crafted bagatelle - Momix graduate Sanders knows how to manipulate structure and props to make magic. Warning: Despite thoughtfully provided plastic coverings, audience members might get wet.

City Paper
September 30 - October 7, 1999
by Deni Kasrel

Patio Plastico. Choreographed by Brian Sanders for a parking lot at Second and Vine. The cement plot was set up as an all-plastic backyard patio, complete with plastic sun hoisted up a flagpole. As synthetic music played (Esquivel, Art of Noise) 10 dancers romped through an inspired dance work that began with tap dancing in shoes made of soda bottles and ended with a raucous slip ‘n’ slide number fueled by a power sprayer and capped by a delicate slow-dance duet. Patio Plastico drew crowds, not only from those who bought tickets, but also from passersby, many who appeared to stumble upon the show as they walked around Old City.