It’s not always easy to keep up with this shows section in Paris, as some of them aren’t on long enough for me to find the time to see them and tell you about them before the performances end. I have therefore decided to tell you about certain shows in advance and add the reviews later, once I have seen them.
I have nevertheless managed to put together a small selection of shows for you in this article to see in Paris right now in March and April 2020, with a nice variety of themes as usual: concert, theater, dance, documentary, circus, film-concert…
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Table of Contents
Gregory Charles: the “living jukebox”
The pianist-singer Gregory Charles is a true phenomenon in Quebec, where he is nicknamed the “living jukebox”. Since I have just returned from a great trip to Quebec, I admit that I already miss the delicious accent of our cousins across the Atlantic! So I really want to go see this showman at L’Européen tomorrow evening.
A lover of history and music, Gregory Charles invites us to relive the last 250 years of Western music and history, from Baroque to hip-hop, from the French Revolution to the digital revolution. Indeed, the concept of each of his shows is that the audience chooses a year between 1768 and today. And for each year proposed, he plays or sings the music that was written, published, or popularized then, while recounting the historical context.
Gregory Charles
at L'Européen on March 9 and 10, 2020 at 8 PM
5 Rue Biot, 75017 Paris
Flat rate: 28 €_
Après la fin at the Théâtre de la Cité internationale
I had been wanting to take a look at the Théâtre de la Cité Internationale for a long time because it is really just near my place. I liked this venue nestled in the heart of the Cité Internationale, which reminded me of my student years.
As for the play, we saw the creation imagined by Maxime Contrepois in 2019 at the Espace des Arts Chalon-sur-Saône.
The pitch: At a time when the fear of collapse is shaking our vision of the future, a man and a woman find themselves confined in the cramped space of an atomic shelter. And when fear causes masks to fall, it reveals a dark part of our humanity.
The play, although very interesting and raising many questions about human nature and the violence inherent in our human condition, is very abrupt and even shocking. However, it also allows us to be as uncomfortable as the two protagonists of this story by pointing the finger at the madness and vices of humanity. You come out of it a bit shaken, and I think that is certainly one of the author’s intentions.
Regarding the staging, it is very successful and I particularly appreciated the atmosphere of the sets as well as the music and the play of lights and darkness. In short, a piece of theater that shakes you up but remains extremely interesting, and I will gladly return to discover the rest of the venue’s programming.
Après la fin Until March 14, 2020 Duration: 1h30 Théâtre de la Cité internationale 17, bd Jourdan 75014 Paris Prices: 23 € / reduced 16 € / 11 € students and job seekers
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Agnès Obel in concert at La Seine Musicale
I have been a real fan of Agnès Obel for years and I am keeping my fingers crossed that her concert on March 20th won’t be cancelled… It will be an opportunity to discover her new album, Myopia, 3 years after the previous one, Citizen of Glass.
If you don’t know this artist and her dreamlike, melancholic universe, I recommend you go discover it as soon as possible! I’m including a little link to one of the singles from her latest album, Island of Doom. To go discover her in concert might be a bit more complicated, unfortunately, because the concert at La Seine Musicale on March 20th is apparently already sold out…
Edit of 03/12/2020: finally, the concert is postponed to July 21, 2020!
Agnès Obel in concert on July 21, 2020 at 8 PM
La Seine Musicale
Île Seguin, 92100 Boulogne-Billancourt
Prices: from 40 €_
Fleurs de Soleil: Thierry Lhermitte alone on stage
For the first time, one of our favorite actors from the “Bronzés” movies finds himself alone on stage. Thierry Lhermitte trades his good humor for a moving state of mind. With Fleurs de Soleil, adapted from the book by Simon Wiesenthal, the famous Nazi hunter, Thierry Lhermitte plays duality to perfection, portraying two characters, but also facing a terrible dilemma and asking the question at the heart of the play: “Can everything be forgiven?”
This confrontation between an SS soldier, prey to regret on his deathbed, and Simon Wiesenthal, a young Jew who is a victim of Nazi horror, is enough to provoke indignation at first, as the SS soldier’s request seems inconceivable. Asking a Jewish prisoner to forgive him for all the crimes committed against his people and to agree to absolve him seems shameful.
And yet, by refusing him forgiveness, and thus peace in the afterlife, Simon Wiesenthal immediately feels split in two: Was I right or was I wrong? Doesn’t every man have the right to redemption? Can forgiveness, a divine principle, be so obvious from a human point of view? Can one forgive horror, ignominy, humiliation?
By questioning those around him, and by calling upon philosophical concepts, Thierry Lhermitte, on stage, also questions the audience, who, through a mirror effect, inevitably asks themselves the question: what would I have done? An hour-long show of rare intensity where the horror of memory turns into poetry, the poetry of words intelligently and accurately interpreted by an inhabited, sensitive, and transformed Thierry Lhermitte.
By playing several characters, Thierry Lhermitte juggles various subjectivities and shows the co-existence of consciences and experiences. We are not one, but many. Diversity is a reality; we are not equal in our actions. Could we have avoided all this evil? The world is not manichaean, although it obviously seems that evil has a face, how should we judge History? And above all, how can we manage to turn the page and forgive men?
Thierry Lhermitte, thanks to his gentleness and his connection to the text, takes us into human consciousness with intense pleasure. Seeing him alone on stage is also realizing his immense dramatic talent, and for that alone, Fleurs de Soleil is a must-see.
Fleurs de Soleil with Thierry Lhermitte
Until April 12, 2020
Wednesday to Saturday at 7 PM and Sundays at 4 PM and 7 PM
From October 8 to November 1, 2020
Théâtre Antoine
14 Boulevard de Strasbourg, 75010 Paris
Prices: from 16.50 €_
Setan Jawa at the Musée du quai Branly
You know that I speak quite regularly in this section about shows at the Musée du Quai Branly, because I really appreciate their programming, which always makes us travel to distant lands that we often know little about. The show Setan Jawa is obviously no exception to this rule!
The latter is a symphonic film-concert and a multicultural show blending silent film, Javanese gamelan orchestra, and symphonic orchestra.
Edit of 03/12/2020: “In the current context of international travel restrictions, the museum, in agreement with the show’s production, has decided to postpone the performances of the show Setan Jawa to a later date”.
Setan Jawa 3 exceptional performances from March 20 to 22, 2020 Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac Claude Lévi-Strauss Theater 37 quai Branly Paris 75007 Full price: 20 € | Reduced prices: 15 €, 10 € (On the day of the show, the ticket grants access to the permanent collections and the exhibitions Helena Rubinstein / The Madame's Collection and Striking Iron / The Art of African Blacksmiths)
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Cosmos Documentary: Possible Worlds
A bit different for this section, I am telling you about a show on the small screen in the comfort of your living room… Cosmos, the reboot of the legendary 80s series about the universe (hosted at the time by the American astronomer Carl Sagan) returns for a third season (if you count the original) with a dive into time and space to imagine the future of humanity. Neil deGrasse Tyson, the American rockstar of astronomy, reprises his role as narrator to accompany us on this journey.
The series is driven by scientifically rigorous writing and tinged with a form of hope specific to fiction. Cosmos: Possible Worlds fascinates with its dreamlike quality and its desire to awaken the adventurer who slumbers within us. Thanks to resources worthy of a major Hollywood production, we are treated to first-rate digital special effects (for a documentary) in order to represent what we cannot currently see.
One could criticize Cosmos for its resolutely American tone with a very classic narration and an extreme simplification of certain scientific aspects. Nevertheless, the goal of the series is certainly not to explore these concepts in depth, but rather to show the viewer a plausible future – perhaps so that he can act if we want to get there one day – without him ending up smothered under a pile of science.
Cosmos: Possible Worlds Broadcast on National Geographic starting March 15 Soon on Disney+
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Pockemon Crew: Hip-hop dance
The famous Lyon-based hip-hop company is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year! I had actually told you about this group, which I had the chance to see already at Bobino in 2017.
In 2020, the company is offering a new show, “Empreinte”, in which Rachid Hamchaoui and Mabrouk Gouicem from the Pockemon collective bring together 6 dancers from several generations of the hip-hop movement. From this meeting emerges an original and poetic creation that plunges us into a journey through time, with a scent of childhood and memories.
I had the chance to discover this new creation during its run at Bobino from February 19 to 22. Currently, the troupe is on tour with several dates in France until May 2020.
Empreinte show by Pockemon Crew On tour in France in 2020 show duration: 1 hour
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Flip Fabrique, the rising star of Quebec circus
Is it still necessary to introduce Quebec circus? True representatives of contemporary circus, our friends from the other side of the Atlantic know how to handle all its aspects. Far from the codes of traditional circus, while keeping its disciplines, Flip Fabrique is a young rising troupe created in 2016 and composed of 6 actors/acrobats (five men, one woman). They offer a high-flying show, alternating with dexterity humorous numbers and astonishing acrobatics.
We will particularly remember from the show Transit three numbers that highlight their total mastery of the diabolo, hoops, and trampoline… But one must not forget that a show is not just a simple sequence of stunts, as impressive as they may be. And in this area, Flip Fabrique stands out for its crazy energy, its creative staging, and above all, in my opinion, its sense of self-mockery and poetic burlesque. A show to discover without fail!
Transit - Flip Fabrique From Wednesday, February 26 to Sunday, April 19, 2020 Wednesday to Saturday at 9 PM / matinees Saturdays and Sundays at 4 PM Main hall of the 13eme Art 30 Avenue d'Italie, 75013 Paris Prices: from 23 to 53 €
