Humour, tendernees and music.- 23/02/2009.
Teatre de Ponent.- Granollers. Barcelona.
Pep Barbany, 9 Nou del Vallès Oriental.
The theatre company Los Excéntricos performs its musical clowns show at the Teatre de Ponent.
Outlandish coloured clothes, made-up faces and outrageous hairstyles. Bizarre situations, a lot of faces pulled and an eagerness to make the audience smile. And music, a lot of music. We present Los Excéntricos, a Catalan/French company of musical clowns, who on Friday put on “Rococó Bananas” at the Teatre de Ponent. This show will be on until next Sunday. They are highly accomplished clowns in the classical style, designed for young and old alike and with thirty years of experience.
The gestures, gags, costumes and surprising skills at playing instruments are the devices used by Marceline, Sylvestre and Zaza, the trio who star in the show. Zaza, with his big ears and incessant smile, infects the audience with his uncontrollable teasing laugh. He is apparently the “silly” clown, but his charisma, musical skills and simple but incredibly effective acts, such as the gag in which he gradually drinks a glass of Cava, really bring out his talent. Marceline, the lady in the show, is the diva, a coquette with a somewhat debatable taste in dresses and so keen to be the star that she sings, juggles and dances in a likeable rather than graceful fashion. Finally there is Sylvestre, the master of ceremonies, the most talkative and the clown who tries to be the most “serious” and professional, but ends up being the most catastrophic of them all.
This trio makes “Rococó Bananas” a surreal variety show, a mixture of musical numbers and juggling in which they trip up, fall over, slap each other and break plates. Music is the very basis of the show. There is a wooden piano full of surprises and instruments as odd as a double bass-come-mop and fingers that play music. The failed attempts to play musical numbers and juggle are just the start of the chaotic fun.
The experience and professionalism of this company, who learned their trade through years of street shows and tours all around the world, is transmitted through an immediate connection with the audience just waiting to have a fun time. The sincerity and simplicity of the gags work to perfection. There is no need for a red nose or complicated special effects. The humour in “Rococó Bananas” springs from the humanity and tenderness of these three clowns who simply let themselves go and do what they know best: clowning around.
Pep Barbany, 9 Nou del Vallès Oriental.
