NEW YORK, NY.- This February 14 in Times Square, Creative Time will present Ralf and Jeanette, a one-time-only, ten-minute, outdoor theatrical “action” written and directed by Spanish artists Bestué´-Vives. Perfectly timed for Valentine's Day, Ralf and Jeanette tells the entire story arc of a romantic relationship—all in about ten minutes.

The play, to be performed in the pedestrian area of Broadway between 44th and 45th Streets at noon, will involve two actors and tell the story of an entire relationship compressed into the space of ten minutes. Over the course of this short time, the two characters will meet for the first time, fall in love, and break up. It will not be immediately apparent to passersby that they are watching a scripted event, however, as the actors will appear to be a normal couple and the dialogue reveals no inconsistencies with quotidian conversation until one listens for a goodly length of time.

Above the actors, on MTV's “44 1/2” outdoor digital screen on the east side of Broadway (between 44th and 45th streets), the play's dialogue will be projected in time with the action. Since the actors will be unamplified, and their lines will be barely audible above the cacophony of Times Square, the screen will be used to “subtitle” the actors: like a silent movie brought to life.

Through an intimate and fast-paced dialogue, the performance will reveal the array of emotions that occur throughout a romance. At the same time, it will reference the “temporal compression” that we often experience in Times Square, a place where the acceleration of the city is almost palpable and information is conveyed at rapid speeds through the digital billboards that blanket the streetscape.

Video and photographic documentation of Ralf and Jeanette will be released on Creative Time's website following the performance.

Spanish-born artists David Bestué (b. 1980) and Marc Vives (b. 1978) both live and work in Barcelona, Spain. Through their work in video, theater, and photography, Bestué and Vives explore an absurdity in the ludicrous actions and objects of everyday life. Bestué- Vives exhibited their video Proteo in the Spanish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2009. They are represented by the Galeria Estrany-de la Mota in Barcelona.