La chute des anges at TOHU interrogates humanity in a world of machines through French circus artistry
L'Oublié(e) company's acrobatic piece, directed by Raphaëlle Boitel, weaves intention and spectacle—contortionists and trapeze artists serve a drama about freedom and light.
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French circus company L'Oublié(e) opens La chute des anges at TOHU this week—a piece about falling angels and the human struggle against systems of control, directed by choreographer Raphaëlle Boitel.
The piece interrogates our place in a world dominated by technology and machines, and our visceral need for light and freedom. Three figures in black costumes begin suspended from their hangers like articulated puppets, attempting to escape. Spotlights hunt them through the semi-dark as though tracking prisoners. Gradually they move, robotically at first, then with intention—trying to break free, drawn toward the sky.
This is not a piece of showstopping acrobatics. The flying mast and contortionist work serve the drama rather than dominating it. A contortionist slides across the floor while a perch hovers inches above her, threatening to crush her. An ladder stretches toward a ceiling of promise. The physical risk remains, but it's tethered to meaning—the acrobatics illustrate something about how we resist or surrender to control.
Soundtrack by Arthur Bison and lighting design by Tristan Baudoin create crescendos where theatre, dance and circus converge to suggest something like hope. The piece succeeds in its gamble: intention comes first, prouesse second.
L'Oublié(e) has distinguished itself in contemporary French circus for its dramaturgical sophistication—a quality many circus companies aspire to but few execute. Boitel, a longtime collaborator of James Thiérée (Charlie Chaplin's great-grandson), brings that sensibility here.
La chute des anges runs at TOHU through July 5.
