It is an astonishing experience, on display at the Théâtre des deux rives, at Rouen (Seine-Maritime), to be discovered from November 9 to 13: Fat people skate well. This show met a duo, Pierre Guillois (author, director and actor) and Olivier Martin-Salvan (co-author and actor), long-time accomplices and already here with Bigre, (winning piece of the Molière for best comedy show in 2017).

The boxes make up the narration

Particularity of the piece, presented as “cardboard cabaret” … there is no spoken dialogue, as in Bigre. In the foreground, Olivier Martin Salvan, jabbering incomprehensible sounds, in a kind of British accent. But there is a narrative, incredible, necessarily. “It is the story of a man who crosses Europe in search of a mermaid, whom he accidentally fished in the frozen lake of Iceland”, tell the two authors.

Indeed, behind, still moving on the stage, Pierre Guillois, a succession of boxes on presents written indications that create the story. And it’s a hell of a performance – including physical -: between 400 and 500 recycled packaging, reshaped by the artists, are handled during 1 hour and 20 minutes of the show. Cards have the role of replicas in traditional spoken theater: they can simply signal, or be more complex, including mechanisms to handle. In the end it is true a choreography which is put on stage.

Pierre Guillois and Olivier Martin-Salvan, in residence at the Théâtre des deux rives (@CdnRouen) for Les Gros skates well, from November 9 to 13. pic.twitter.com/DRg6YRbVFK

– Fabien Massin (@massinfabien) November 9, 2021

A residence in Rouen

The show was first created at the Théâtre du Rond-Point, outdoors, in Paris, in 2020, before being presented on tour in the months that followed. This new version, indoors for the first time, is the result of a residency at the Théâtre des deux rives, organized in recent days. This adapted form uses the lights and darkness that are specific to the room.

• Discover an excerpt from the play Les Gros patinent bien (outdoor version):

Practical information :
Fat people skate well, at the Théâtre des deux rives, 48, rue Louis-Ricard in Rouen, Tuesday 9, Wednesday 10 and Friday 12 November 2021 at 8 p.m., Thursday 11 and Saturday 13 November at 6 p.m.
All ages from 6 years old.
Prices: 20 euros (reduced 15 euros).

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