The first Fête Franglais took shape this week-end, for the 39th edition of the Hat Fair Festival. Under the blinding sun and in the heat-bathed streets of Winchester, eight French and British companies were part of this peculiar event…
In their small caravan, the artists from Scopitone & Cie gave a “patrecatodic” performance of The Little Riding Hood: for the first time indeed, their show Le petit Chaperon Rouge has been translated into English in order to be accessible to Winchester’s audience. After passing the dancing test for the admission into the theatre space, we saw for ourselves that this adaptation was a success – seeing the reactions of the young hatters next to us. This experience hopefully gives the company an optimistic start in Britain as they will be touring in Cambridgeshire in August 2013.
 |
|
Without letting the floral patterns get to them, the musicians and comedians from Ramshacklicious really stick to their performance as The Sad Band. Their swing/skiffle/blues/folk tunes, the husky voice of the singer, the stories of this composed family managed to snatch the passers-by from their path and to wake up the people napping in the shade of the trees.
The least that can be said about Makadam Kanibal’s performance in Winchester is that it left quite an impression on the audience. The fakirs of the absurd from the Cirque des Curiosités caused strong reactions – sometimes laughter, sometimes outrage – among the people around, some of which were still busy with their picnic. However, even though the tone of the show is rather rougher than the rest of the festival, it seemed like the French performers and the Hat Fair audience managed to connect.
 |
|
For this year’s Fête Franglais, Wet Picnic brought along its latest show: The Lift. This show is an in and out stand for one person in a movable and particular lift shaft in which three bellboys send a member of the audience in for a one of a kind experience. The crowd around the lift shares the experience by hearing what is happening inside and seeing the three comedians operate around the box. Despite the heat, the artists managed to carry out the show to its completion.
 |
|
The show Compost Mentis by company Whalley Range All Stars received a packed welcome in Hat Fair. Positioned in an ideal spot, in the cathedral outer square, the gardener was able to confront his monstrous compost heap in front of a legion of fascinated kids that were hanging onto the garden fence. The lawn around the stage remained faithfully crowded during the whole of the performance.
 |
|
 |
The young circus artists from Collectif Malunés presented their show Sans dessus dessous in the most superb setting. The performance was dynamic and it stirred the audience. Between charming and explosive teeterboard, flying trapeze and Cyr wheel numbers, the trapeze artist’s French accent was gladly welcomed by the British audience. A good omen for the rest of Collectif Malunés’s British journey that will lead them to the Peterborough Arts Festival in September.
 |
This year, Joli Vyann made the best out of its presence in the Hat Fair festival. Not only have they presented their show H2H (short for Hand to hand), a mix of dance, circus and theatre about the fragility of human relationships; the company also led an artistic workshop and performed for the launch of the festival, on Friday morning, in front of the press and all the participants.
 |
|
During three days, Denis Tricot’s ephemeral sculptures invaded Weir’s Walk, along the river. Curved poplar laths joined together to form a “wooden thread” weaved their way through the air, delicately sculpting the space along the stream. At night, the illuminated wooden waves and the gypsy songs performed by cellist and singer Vania Dombrovszky met the deference of the audience who had gathered in the pleasant dusk coolness to forget the tumult of the day.
- Installation by Denis Tricot
Photographs by Adrienne Photography, Mathilde Vautier and Julia Duchemin
RSS 2.0