The sweet folly of Maboul

Smoke announces the entry of employees into this rather droll cabaret. Filing in, Indian style, already in costume, each performer punches his or her card. Never has a quarter hour of work gone by this fast!

From the start, it was evident that Stéphane Crête knows how to put his imprint on staging and directing. Diabolo champion Tony Frebourg draws genuinely-felt "Bravos" from the entire audience, people of all ages, in a backdrop of music blending opera and techno. For an hour and a half, the acts succeed one another without pause, musically driven by the wacky rhythms of Court-Circuit.

Christophe Loison, who considers himself "a happy handyman, a joyous jack-of-all trades" appears and reappears in scene after scene as a vacationer at the beach, getting married in a plastic see-through gown with lots of little bubbles to burst, as a Christmas Tree and as a trainer of flying horses.

The Chicos Mambos quartet also made numerous appearances, in caricature skits depicting a wedding reception, a ballroom dancing contest, and rhythmic gymnastics, with theatrical overtones directly reminiscent of Drag Queen.

He was preceded by the human sculptures of weightlessness crafted by Ukrainian tight-rope walker Alexander Veligosha, who mounted an aerial ballet, strong and supple; as well, the goose-bump humour of funambulist Audrey Ivaknenko and her daring pranks on the tight-rope truly excited the audience.

There were the splendid tour-de-force acts of Natalia Leontieva and her hula-hoop on giant ballon, the dancing duet of Junior and Crazy C – their break-dancing brimming with energy, Anatoli Zalewski whose Pierrot landed on earth, leaving us agape and aghast at the power of his body against a lunar orb, concluding with the amazing ability of contortionist Artium Riis, who knows how to take your breath away just by getting into a box.