The Mummenschanz show up… and so does the audience, everywhere in the world. The Swiss company is more than a name: it is an art form that has left a durable mark on the world of theater with unprecedented and unique shows. Filled with dreams, absurdity and tenderness, those acts give life to universes full of little stories and big creatures. Made of moss, clay, metal or toilet paper, those funny silhouettes perambulate silently, carried by virtuoso artists invisible to the naked eye. Surrealistic situations always end up getting out of hand, bringing about laughter and poetry.
Dominique toute seule
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Dominique a perdu son emploi puis, progressivement, sa maison. Toute seule sur le bord de la route, elle échoue à l’orée d’un bois. Elle a peur de ne plus exister pour personne, de perdre ses couleurs, puis de disparaître… Et c’est là, dans une nature aux vertus magiques, que Dominique rencontrera d’importants amis comme ce rocher de granit ou ce menhir au pied duquel, plus sereine, elle se reposera au coin du feu. Dominique pourra se laisser porter, éveiller sa curiosité, s’interroger et repartir nourrie de chaleur, d’intensité, de réponses et… de chansons.
Tigre ! Tigre !
With an irresistible phlegm reminiscent of Mr. Bean’s or Buster Keaton’s comicality, Pierric bends over backwards to surprise and bewilder you. Locked in an enigmatic room where the furniture and items come to life, the world magic champion has more than one trick up his sleeve. He surpasses himself to break open both the door’s lock and the audience’s looks. Halfway between burlesque theater and One-Man Magic Show, the goings-on of his escape attempts are no longer under control and trigger hilarity. For his return at Escher Theater, it does look like this full artist, revealed at Avignon’s OFF Festival, is… Raring to go!
Forever
Dressed in long white skirts, five proud characters stare at the audience. Are they beings of flesh and blood? Olympian gods? There forever, or mere mortals? Ethereal even when they fall, melodious even when they moan, harmonious even when they pretend to perish, they play and replay their own death all over again. The scenes of agony multiply, with a liberal amount of blood. Based on children’s outlook on death and the after, Swiss artist Tabea Martin invents a cathartic and a tad off-the-wall choreography that questions our representations on the subject, and makes us rather die of laughter than scared to death!
La Galerie
The circus comes to the museum! In the monotonous whitecube of a contemporary art gallery, eight characters lightly mock its conventions. Rigid and uptight at the start, they unwind with colorful, liberatory, and acrobatic élan. From the first to last moments of a performance that forges ahead at full speed, the sets are constructed and deconstructed in the service of a suite of inventive and supercharged numbers. Eyes widen and light up before these artists who are alternately circus performers, dancers, actors or musicians, but above all, they are very touching. And that is indeed fine art.
Natchav
What if we broke away? In the first light of dawn, on a little town’s main square, a large marquee points towards the sky: Natchav circus has arrived. “In the name of safety”, authorities are not too pleased and resort to locking away one of the acrobats.
Company Les ombres portées – creating live its shows’ shades, sound effects and music – invites us into the backstage of a wonderful evasion. A superb visual tapestry, Natchav (“leaving, running away” in the Romani language) tells the story of a circus which, to stay free, will defy all laws – including that of gravity.
Six°
Five characters are mysteriously invited to an abandoned structure where they will laugh and shudder; this house has a soul and will prove to be a frenzied playground. Amazing feats, floor acrobatics and poetic, suspended postures: this high-flying performance alternates between comedy, physical prowess, and theatrical play, all set to an intoxicating soundtrack. The deeply felt emotions and perfectly executed stunts of these gifted artists create a contagious complicity that sweeps up a sixth character – the audience – in its wake.
Machine de cirque
Straight from Quebec, five acrobats and musicians amaze with their breath-taking and hilarious acts, be it on the Chinese pole, Korean seesaw, unicycle or fireworks. This whirlwind of action comes together in a cheeky story, in which our five muscular rascals play survivors in a world without women and technology. Their mission becomes apparent right away: finding other survivors. It will be dangerous, but fun at the same time. It almost makes you wish the end of the world were to happen tomorrow.
Go !
The (good) philosophy of the tatami. Two men are eyeing up, fighting each other and showing off in this athletic and artistic performance. Nobody gets hurt though. These fighting dancers respect each other and their warrior rituals reconnect with fundamental instincts such as openness and emancipation. Go ! combines humor, sensuality and explosiveness and articulates a common thread between dance and martial arts: the perfection and beauty of movement.
Une forêt
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Pas comme les autres ? Les nombreux tics et l’étrange élocution de Petite lui valent les moqueries de ses camarades alors que Grand, son frère, est un enfant sans problème. Un soir, la mère téléphone à une amie et lui confie, désespérée, ses difficultés à élever sa fille. Petite entend toute la conversation…
Librement inspiré de plusieurs contes traditionnels, Une forêt est un récit original et palpitant dans lequel les relations familiales prennent un tour inattendu. Au fil de cette aventure, on pénètre dans une forêt peuplée de créatures dont la rencontre changera Petite. Un récit plein d’humour et de tendresse, sur la différence et l’ambivalence des relations frère-sœur.