A short, cultural-themed post to end this year of 2016 with some shows: a play to rush and see tonight for the final performance at the Théâtre Rive Gauche, circus performances with the 43rd creation from the Alexis Gruss family and Cirkacuba by the Cirque Phénix for a more festive note, and finally an adaptation of Oliver Twist as a musical.

Between theater, circus, and songs, here is a quick but varied cultural overview and some outing ideas to end (or start) the year in style.

Cie les Farfadais show La Terre QUINTESSENCE, singer and dancers with powder.

Petits Crimes Conjugaux (Intimate Strangers) at the Rive Gauche

This play, themed around the difficulties of life as a couple and the complexity of romantic relationships, is wonderfully performed by two talented actors (Fanny Cottençon and Sam Karmann). From the very first minutes, you immediately get hooked into Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt’s world and are swept away by the play’s many twists and turns.

You won’t be bored for a single second; the set design is perfectly in tune with the play, and the progression and discovery of the true stakes behind Gilles’ amnesia—the character played by Sam Karmann—is handled very intelligently.

PETITS CRIMES CONJUGAUX (Théâtre Rive Gauche-Paris14th) © Fabienne Rappeneau

In short, we had a very good time, and I highly recommend you rush to see this play, which offers an interesting reflection on couples, before the end of the year, as the final performance takes place this Saturday, December 31st!

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Petits Crimes Conjugaux

Tuesday to Saturday at 9:00 PM or 5:30 PM depending on the day, until December 31, 2016

Duration: 1h40

Prices: between €27 and €45

Théâtre Rive Gauche

6, rue de la Gaité 75014 Paris

Alexis Gruss & Les Farfadais: Quintessence

After the success of Pégase & Icare (which I already reviewed last year), this new equestrian and aerial show by Alexis Gruss is an original creation combining the expertise of the Alexis Gruss family riders with that of the Compagnie les Farfadais, aerial acrobats.

Alexis Gruss, for those who are not familiar or only slightly, is a world-renowned Master Equestrian. He created “Le Cirque à l’Ancienne” on May 25, 1974, Mother’s Day, and his team has the distinction of being essentially a family composition.

Equestrian act by Firmin Gruss under the circus spotlights.

Cie Les Farfadais-Posthumous tribute to Icare-Quintessence2016©Karim El Dib Duo of acrobats balancing on a roller and board, Louis Gruss show.

Cie les Farfadais-aerial straps-Quintessence2016©Karim El Dib

On the evening’s program: Vaulting, lifts and acrobatics on horseback or in the air, balancing and juggling, aerial and aquatic ballets, a 26-horse carousel, more than 40 horses on stage, 20 artists, a singer, and a live orchestra.

Presented across three stage areas, these scenes explore a theme revolving around the four elements: Air, Earth, Fire, and Water.

Tamer directing a rearing white horse during an Alexis Gruss show.

Alexis Gruss & Les Farfadais: Quintessence

Duration: 2h30

Price: from €20 to €75

From 10/22/2016 to 02/19/2017

Chapiteau Alexis Gruss Carrefour des Cascades

Porte de Passy

75016 Paris

Free shuttles departing from Porte d’Auteuil

Then on tour in French Zéniths from March 11 to May 10, 2017

CirkaCuba at the Cirque Phénix

At the crossroads of music, dance, singing, and circus, CirkaCuba presents a resolutely modern circus, like an invitation to visit this island so rich in culture and tradition.

Cirque Phénix CIRKACUBA show poster with a smiling woman and Cuban musicians. Duo of aerial acrobats performing in CirkaCuba, moves on trapeze and hoop.

On stage, 50 artists perform twelve impressive circus acts such as aerial suspension (by the hair!), pole dancing, Cuban-style juggling… But what I also found totally magical and captivating were the superb dance numbers that punctuate each circus act, not to mention the live Cuban band and the talented singer who know perfectly how to recreate the island’s atmosphere and transport us elsewhere.

Colorful dance performance with musicians in the background and Cuban decor.

Colorful dance show with acrobats and dancers in Cuban costumes.

Ultimately, it makes for a spectacular and relatively joyful circus, and the atmosphere was more than warm under the massive tent of the Cirque Phénix. A show that enchants regardless of your age.

CirkaCuba

Cirque Phénix

Pelouse de Reuilly, 75012 Paris

Metro: Liberté (line 8)

Price: between €19 (under 16) and €75

In Paris until January 15, 2017

Then on tour throughout France, Belgium, and Switzerland

Oliver Twist, the Musical at the Salle Gaveau

“Oliver Twist, the Musical” has been running since September 23 at the legendary Salle Gaveau in Paris, a classified historical monument which is hosting a musical for the very first time. The show, which is meeting with great public and critical success, has even extended its run until February 2017.

Show poster The Adventure Continues! Salle Gaveau, man being carried.

This unprecedented creation, composed and written by Shay Alon and Christopher Delarue and directed by Ladislas Chollat, revisits Charles Dickens’ masterpiece as a musical, based on a libretto built in the purest Broadway tradition. The show, which brings together a troupe of 15 actors, singers, and dancers on stage, as well as an orchestra of 6 musicians, is a true enchantment!

You don’t see the time passing, and it’s extremely easy to get carried away by this simple yet universal story of the little orphan searching for his family. The costumes are sublime, the venue remains medium-sized, and I find it allows for greater intimacy with the artists than in other theaters.

Scene from Oliver Twist with actors in red holding raised forks.