Smashed 2 Review | A Tale of Revenge

Double bill from the United Kingdom on Wednesday night at the Tohu to kick off Montreal Completely Circus. If the proposal of Gandini Juggling leaves us with a little sour taste, the trio of Three Legged Race turns out to be rather hilarious.

11 years ago, Gandini Juggling presented in Montreal a first version of Smashed. The most loyal fans of Complètement cirque will certainly remember it. An instant public and critical favorite.

In their fine suits, the seven men danced while juggling apples; the two women in evening gowns too. A magnificent ballet mixing dance, music and juggling, a sort of nod to the play Contact Center by Pina Bausch, which explored male-female relationships.

In Smashed 2Sean Gandini and his partner Kati Ylä-Hokkala wanted to reverse the roles. So there are seven women and two men who tread the stage, this time juggling oranges in finely chiseled choreographies.

But here it is, the seven women are driven by a desire for revenge. And beneath the exterior of graceful flights, anger rages.

It’s as if they wanted to make these two guys pay for all the inequalities, injustices or other abuses that they have collectively suffered over the years… In a rendering close to a comic strip, with scenes played in slow motion. We want to smile (sometimes), but it doesn’t come easily…

The show is divided into short sketches, each with its own musical theme. We go from Roy Orbison (In Dreams) in Gillian Hills (Zou kiss Kiss) through Johnny Mathis (Wild Is the Wind) or even the opera The strength of destinyby Verdi.

Here the juggling is not performed in a way that highlights the performers’ prowess (despite their obvious talent), but it serves this slightly provocative dramaturgy, which lacks subtlety.

The two men are thus held back in their enthusiasm, manipulated like puppets, relegated to secondary roles… in short, they get a taste of their own medicine, as they say. Even if it is done with a certain humor, the play leaves us with a slightly sour taste. It must be the oranges…

Sean Gandini had predicted a “jubilant and violent” ending, and it is indeed with quite unheard-of violence that it ends. Smashed 2one of our two lads getting beaten up in the middle of the fruit spraying on Anarchy in the UK Sex Pistols…

In short, it is at a Smashed avenger that Gandini invites us to. With a somewhat simplistic premise, but which on the other hand offers us vivid visual paintings of great beauty. As if we had dropped Cézanne’s beautiful oranges into a painting by Goya or Rubens… Not necessarily a family show by the way.

Until July 7 at the Tohu.

Check out the event page

Smashed 2

From Gandini Juggling
Directed by Sean Gandini and Kati Ylä-Hokkala

55 min

The TohuUntil July 7

6/10

Sophie’s Surprise 29th

Double from England to the Tohu with Sophie’s Surprise 29thpresented in the large outdoor marquee, immediately after Smashed 2.

The atmosphere changes completely. We are here to celebrate Sophie’s birthday. On stage are a porter, a vaulter, a nerd, the three founding members of the Three Legged Race company, as well as a Goth (also English), who does a very nice strap number by the way.

These handsome oddballs interact with the audience – among other things because the Sophie in question is actually a spectator. Little by little, they perform acrobatic numbers. For her (Sophie), for us (the audience), in short, they reveal themselves…

The four British guys had the good idea to include two Quebecers in their show – one of them, Francis Gadbois, plays a policeman; the other, Guillaume Paquin, does a striptease number (for Sophie, of course!), but also a Cyr wheel number. We are told that they only had three days to prepare!

These two young artists add a good dose of humor to this unpretentious show whose objective could be summed up as this: to entertain Sophie.

Francis Gadbois is particularly convincing – whether on an acrobatic bike or in a cigar box manipulation number, popularized by Eric Bates with the 7 Fingers. He succeeds in infusing his character with that English phlegm that we love so much. Guillaume Paquin, for his part, gives the sexy touch to this show that would otherwise have lacked spice.

The show ends with a high-flying three-person act – performed by the English – with an artist hanging by his feet from his trapeze in bat mode and a carrier just below, his feet firmly anchored to the ground. Between them, a female acrobat walks, so to speak, between heaven and earth, passing from the carrier’s hands to those of the trapeze artist. Absolutely beautiful.

All this for Sophie.

Until July 14 at the Tohu

Check out the event page

Sophie’s Surprise 29th

Directed by Katharine Arnold, Isis Clegg-Vinell
and Nathan Price

The TohuUntil July 14

7/10

Check out the in-room programming of Complètement cirque

An award for Acting For Climate Montreal

The circus company Acting For Climate Montreal/Mouvement Climat Montréal won the first Propulsion Prize, worth $10,000. The award presented Wednesday night by the Conseil des arts de Montréal (CAM) and the Regroupement national des arts du cirque En Piste recognizes a circus arts collective or organization that has innovated and contributed to the enrichment of the discipline in 2023. The collective was founded in 2020 by Nathan Biggs Penton, Agathe Bisserier and Adrien Malette-Chénier. Samuelle McGowan-Richer recently joined the group. Their show Branch was particularly noted for its ability to create a close relationship with the public in natural spaces. N. Ormes is being presented in Avignon until July and will go to Edinburgh in August.