FRIDAY 15th JUNE · 8 pm FROM 8 YEARS · 1 h
Reservation recommended
“Come for the show, stay for the woe“ is the motto of the morbid circus at the centre of STEREOPTIK’S latest piece. Dark Circus is the result of a collaboration between Pef, author and illustrator of « The Prince of Motordu » and numerous other children’s books, and Romain Bermond and Jean-Baptiste Maillet of STEREOPTIK. A chance meeting 9 years ago blossomed into a friendship, and from this friendship grew the desire to create something together.
Dark Circus represents two firsts for STEREOPTIK. It is the first time the company will work from a script, and the first time words will be spoken on stage—a down-at-the-heels rocker of an emcee has the honour…
In this sad circus the catastrophes pile up, one number after another. The trapezist crashes to the ground, the animal trainer is devoured by his lion, the human cannonball never returns from outer space. Luckily there’s a clumsy juggler to breathe a little colour into the proceedings.
If the circus is dark, the tone is light. Music and images accompany the action and the story is laced with poetic moments and a healthy dose of irony: “Come for the show, stay for the woe.”
The ink drawings that provide the backdrop for Dark Circus, thick and black, resemble photographs in their use of light and contrast. The various techniques used onstage create images of extraordinary beauty and inventiveness. Here, the visual magic of the theatre meets the childlike wonder of the circus. Before our eyes, an urban landscape of buildings and streets transforms into a crowd-filled tent. Lit from above, a drum set becomes a runway to the stars, the neck of a guitar morphs into a stern animal trainer. A few flicks of an eraser and a wild horse is liberated from the ring, spreading poetry in his wake.
Maïa Bouteillet – translation Hillary Keegin
Four classes of the schools of Vatan and Pruniers participated in workshops of initiation into the Indian ink with the company Stéréoptik. A cloudy sky, a disturbing moor, a circus tent, characters…
Creation and performance : Romain Bermond et Jean-Baptiste Maillet, based on an original story by PEF · Artistic collaborator : Frédéric Maurin · Stage management : Arnaud Viala / Frank Jamond · Production, administration : E. Magis, ANAHI (www.anahiproduction.fr) · Production : STEREOPTIK · Coproduction : L’Hectare, Scène conventionnée de Vendôme, Théâtre Jean Arp, Scène conventionnée de Clamart, Théâtre Le Passage, Scène conventionnée de Fécamp, Théâtre Epidaure de Bouloire, Cie Jamais 203 · With the support : Théâtre de l’Agora – Scène nationale d’Evry et de l’Essonne, L’Echalier / Saint-Agil, Théâtre Paris Villette, MJC Mont-Mesly Madeleine Rebérioux / Créteil. STEREOPTIK is supported by the Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication / DRAC Centre-Val de Loire et la Région Centre-Val de Loire. Stéréoptik is artist associated to the Théâtre de la Ville-Paris and the Hectare, scène conventionnée de Vendôme. His projects are accompanied by La Criée, Théâtre national de Marseille.
