Alexandrine von Taxis, one of the main characters in “Plan C,” is an actual historical figure whose portrait should probably be hanging in both the Smithsonian National Postal Museum and the International Spy Museum. She was General Postmaster of the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years’ War, taking over the complex network of couriers throughout Europe after the death of her husband. She also reportedly oversaw the systematic, secretive monitoring of private correspondence and official dispatches to ascertain troop movement and the like. 

If it seems inevitable that her story would be dramatized, “Plan C” is not a straightforward biographical drama. Devised, written and performed by the members of Hook & Eye theater company, the play alternates between two stories four hundred years apart. There is the so-called “black chamber” operation in Brussels in the 1620s, and then there is a clandestine operation of a different sort in a small town in West Virginia in 2026. 

What is the connection between these two stories?  There is a lame little pre-show audience exercise that is apparently meant to suggest the theme of the evening; we are asked to write a letter on one of eight topics (such as “what law would you be willing to break and for whom?”) The staging offers some clues throughout the production. A line by Elizabeth London as Alexandrine eventually tries to spell it out: “Small acts of bravery do turn the tide of tyranny.”   Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough for me. “Plan C” is well-meaning, and well-mounted, but too much of it is a muddle.

Before the play began, its director Carrie Heitman, artistic director of Hook & Eye, told the audience that the entire company spent four years putting “Plan C” together, a joint effort by all nine performer-writers plus twenty-five more.  This may help explain why the production felt crowded with characters, each of whom gets a say. 

In any case, it takes too long for the central stories to come into focus. It doesn’t help that the Belgium scenes are infused with details from the Thirty Years War (I challenge anybody reading this to tell me what that war was about, or who fought it.)  Eventually, it becomes clear that the stakes are life and death, and that Alexandrine and those who stay with her will feed their gathered intelligence to the Winter Queen, Elizabeth Stuart (Meghan Grover) to assist her battle against Ferdinand II (Cynthia Babak.) 

The scenes in the small independent hardware store in Appalachia are easier to follow, but even here the main story takes quite a while to kick in. (It takes so long, in fact, that I’m wondering whether it’s intended as a secret revealed; if so, then what follows should get a spoiler alert.)  Charley (Vann Dukes), the daughter of the owner of the store, had worked in a clinic that was closed down, presumably after the overturning of Roe v. Wade  led to a nearly complete ban on abortions in the state. She has decided to work with Dr. Bee (Parnia Ayari), former doctor at the clinic, to enable those who need it to get a medication abortion. (“Plan C” is a phrase that refers to the abortion pill regimen of mifepristone and misoprostol.)  Clients show up at the store and ask for “Mrs. Well’s package” to pick up the pills.
Patrick (Jesse B. Koehler), a long-time friend of the family and a local police officer, may have gotten wind of the operation, and (if I understood what happens) may be a monster.

Both Alexandrine’s and Charley’s “small acts of bravery” in a time of tyranny are worth chronicling and contemplating;  putting them together in the same play is at least an intriguing idea in theory even though it doesn’t wind up working in practice. What works best in “Plan C” –what kept me attentive through all 90 minutes even when I felt at sea – was the quality of the production: the poetic movement choreographed by Leslie Galan Guyton, the evocative score by Ian Scot Williams,  the committed cast.

Plan C
The Tank through April 12
Running time: 90 minutes no intermission
Tickets: $28 – $53
Conceived & Directed by Carrie Heitman, Production Management by Leah McVeigh, Assistant Direction by Kyle Abourizk, Costume Design by Krista Pineman , Scenic Design by Anna Grigo, Composition & Sound Design by Ian Scot Williams, Lighting Design by Zack Saunders, Choreography by Leslie Galán Guyton
Ensemble: Parnia Ayari, Elizabeth London, Cynthia Babak, Meghan Grover, Jesse Koehler, Nylda Mark, Vann Dukes, Rina Dutta, Daniel Olguin