Ouest France24 April 2019
Brest - Moving and magical, Cirque Plume’s swan song is at the Quartz
Cirque Plume is presenting its last show, Dernière saison, at Le Quartz in Brest (Finistère) through Monday, April 29. In this poetic and socially engaged production, the Kudlak brothers are true to the same spirit that has guided their troupe since 1984.
Cirque Plume is on its last tour. When this last season and last show – the aptly titled Dernière saison — end in 2020, the Kudlak brothers, the company’s founders, will be over sixty-five years old. The time will have come for them to take a well-deserved retirement after the troupe’s 36 years of existence.
Indeed, it’s necessary to look back to 1984 to get a sense of the multifaceted troupe that revolutionized circus with a great idea: “To bring together the spirit of celebration, politics, dreams, poetry, music, and the human body, all with a grassroots, non-violent kind of brotherly love.”
A poetic and socially engaged work
La Dernière saison is a clever mix of everything they know how to do, and a beautiful affirmation of the values that have driven them. Never with bitterness, always with humor for adults and children alike — the children’s laughter has something refreshing about it — and dare we even say with beauty, in particular when it comes to denouncing plastic-induced pollution.
A visual metaphor for the evolution of humanity comes to mind. Later in the show, we wonder what monkeys would say if they could speak. Congratulations to the zoomorphic acrobat Cyril Casmèze, whose gestural accuracy is astounding. Beyond all the different acts, let’s be clear, it is Man, first and foremost, who is at the center of these big-hearted circus performers’ concerns.
Without revealing the magic of the show’s effects, we can mention the infinite beauty of the lighting, the plasticity of the scenography, the creativity of Benoît Schick’s music. We love the orchestra, which guides us through the narrative arcs of the piece. Our gold prize goes to the women. They are just exceptional, each one in her own specialty: acrobatic, wire, and contortion.