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It is said that wrestling is a spectacle discipline. This is all the more true when we replace the wrestlers with the talented circus artists of FLIP Fabrique and invite the genius of Robert Lepage.
With the help of designer Nicolas Dostie, the director from Quebec has a lot of fun with live video in this creation. By slowing down the image or passing it through a kaleidoscope, Naomi Eddy’s contortions and Stéphane Pansa’s pirouettes, broadcast on a screen behind the arena, become true works of art.
Accompanied by a tune of jazz and the clever lighting of Renaud Pettigrew, Stéphane Pansa is also impressive on the soft rope!
These poetic visions are offered in the moments of calm between the fights between colorful characters!
(Caroline Grégoire/The Sun)
There is Babyface, dressed in leather, who faces a Strongman whose costume is reminiscent of Louis Cyr. After the fight, this strong man offers his groupies a whole ride thanks to a removable safety barrier.
As confirmed by the retro camera used by one of the admirers, the creators chose to anchor SLAM! in the golden age of televised wrestling. The music, props and overall aesthetic of the show take us back to the 20th century.
Sports commentators in powder blue suits are also among the characters. Their voices are modified by microphones. No words are really used in this 100-minute show where we express ourselves with the body and onomatopoeia.
The Diamant audience was perhaps a little too well-behaved on Tuesday evening. Luckily, a pre-recorded crowd was there to encourage spectators to boo the bad guys.
They were quicker to react to blows received by the characters. Notably the Pretty Cowgirl whose contortions were painful to watch.
Anything goes in this wrestling show. The referees are absolutely useless and, like the other characters who orbit the arena, they are not spared by the wrestlers.
We must salute the work of the eight artists from FLIP Fabrique (Jérémie Arsenault, Fabien Cortes, Maeva Desplat, Naomi Eddy, Jonathan Julien, Stéphane Pansa Cédrik Pineault and Adèle Saint-Martin) who bring all these characters to life!
SLAM! exploits the characters of the fight as original as its environment. The ropes are used both for tightrope walkers and for rolling diabolos. The microphone hanging from the ceiling allows you to suspend a few acrobats, while the arena floor transforms into a trampoline.
We are also treated to several juggling acts with unexpected items, such as a skittle disguised as cotton candy.
Mixture and nuances
In addition to having realized his dream of putting on a wrestling show, Robert Lepage must have been happy to see the diversity of the public attracted by this creation on Tuesday evening.
Since the founding of Le Diamant, the Quebec director has expressed the wish to make his theater a meeting place between different artistic disciplines, but also between different audiences.
By combining theater, circus and wrestling, he made SLAM! entertainment as unifying as it is original.
At the start of the evening, we have the impression that the pace of the show could be faster and that we stick a little too closely to the realism of the fight, but we learn quite quickly to appreciate the nuances between the exhilarating and funny moments, then others more poetic and deposited.
SLAM! is presented at Le Diamant until March 9.
2024-03-06 04:24:19
#emSLAMem #colorful #nuanced #entertainment
