The last show of the festival that I was able to see was
Le Carré Curieux by up and coming Belgian company,
Carré Curieux What is most impressive about this show is that it was created by such young artists. I'm the same age as they are, if not a little bit older, and I don't feel that I'm in a place in my artistic career where I could create an entire show, market it, and tour it internationally. I have a hard enough time selling my act! Seriously, hats off to you, boys.
But on to the show...
Being a young company made up of young artists, you really can feel their youth, which works both for and against them. The strong points are very strong. The best moments in the show are engaging, creative, well thought out, and clever. The weaker moments show the inexperience of the artists in the sense that the pacing is off, scenes are too long or lack clarity, or the artists just don't have enough theatre experience to do the moment justice.
The beginning of the show is absolutely fantastic. It is surprising, invites the audience into the world the artists are creating, and takes the time to introduce each character and how he fits into the puzzle. It's smart and instantly endearing. Their set design is simple, functional, and put to excellent use. Each element of the set has a character of its own and seems to reflect the artists themselves.
There are a few moments that are a tad long. The group juggling act was long and the transition into the next part of the show was quite slow as a result of certain artistic choices made in the act (Balls everywhere! Chaos! One person to pick everything up... in silence...) Another interesting choice was the structure of the pole act. The apparatus itself is very interesting as it is free standing and requires the artists not climbing on the pole to support it. However, the act is structured in two parts. First, with only two artists, then with the entire group. It gives the impression of two different acts on the same discipline, performed back to back. It was a little long and I definitely noticed my thoughts drifting elsewhere by the end.
For me, the stand out in the show was Kenzo Tokuoka. Although the youngest member of the troupe, I felt he showed the most maturity on stage. With a stage presence that was far more understated than his colleagues, I felt he was somehow able to draw the audience much further in while performing. I think it's fair to say that his unicycle act stole the show and took more than a few breaths away.
The only thing that I found really grating was Vladimir Couprie's character, who reminded me very strongly of the actor-desperately-trying-for-an-academy-award in
this video. A harsh comparison, I know. But by the end of the show, I would start to cringe any time that particular character started to get going. And yet it must be said that Vladimir's skills as a diabolo artist are spectacular. During his diabolo act, where the 'character' side of his character took a backseat to his outstanding diabolo skills, he really did shine. With some refinement and a little balance, he could be truly great. But right now, he's this guy...
Catch phrase!
All in all, this is an extremely impressive young company that you most definitely should keep an eye out for. They're an very likable group of guys and you can really see the tenderness with which they perform, and the care they show one another and their craft. For more information, check out their
website.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, about wraps up our coverage of this year's edition of Montreal Completement Cirque! We will now return to our regular circus adventures...
