Big Ones Skate Well

A CARDBOARD CABARET

Let the joy commence: brace yourself for the madcap odyssey of an irresistible duo and their co-stars – 150 cardboard boxes! Pinch me, I must be dreaming! Just two performers pull out all the stops – and a fair few signs – right before your eyes to bring to life a hilariously chaotic chase across Europe. First up: a portly actor of vaguely Shakespearean persuasion mutters away in delightfully nonsensical language, recounting the wild escape of one of his so-called ancestors, supposedly cursed by a vengeful siren’s wrath. To narrate this crazy race – on roller skates, scooters, planes, even the back of a mule – our chubby storyteller remains stubbornly perched on his stool. Enter his scrawny, silent sidekick, who flings himself about the stage in a whirlwind of energy, conjuring the landscapes, characters and objects that feature in the fantastic odyssey of the sedentary storyteller. The tragic flailing of one, colliding with the resolute stillness of the other, leads to uproarious comedy.
From cartoons to cardboard, it’s all a dazzling pas de deux – a masterfully timed machine that sends the imagination spinning and the words flying straight from the heart of this riotous tale.
Big Ones Skate Well was awarded the 2022 Molière prize for Best Public Theatre.
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By Olivier Martin-Salvan and Pierre Guillois

From 17 September
To 5 October 2025

Main room
Duration 1h20
From 12 years old

Showtimes
Tuesday – Friday at 7.30 pm
Saturday – Sunday at 5 pm

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Distribution and credits

By Olivier Martin-Salvan and Pierre Guillois
With Olivier Martin-Salvan (23-28.09), in alternance with Jonathan Pinto-Rocha (17-21.09 et 30.09-05.10), Pierre Guillois in alternance with Clément Deboeur (17-23.09 et 04-05.10), Édouard Penaud (30.09-03.10), Félix Villemur (24-28.09)
Technique management Colin Plancher
Cardboard engineering Charlotte Rodière
Sound Loïc Le Cadre
Costumes advice Coco Petitpierre
Props Émilie Poitaux

Technique team from production
Technique management Colin Plancher, in alternance with Cyril Chardonnet (30.09-05.10), Jérôme Pérez (23-28.09), Grégoire Plancher (17-21.09)
Stage management Émilie Poitaux in alternance with Eve Esquenet (30.09-05.10), Jeanne Gloux Van Geel (23-28.09), Cécile Jaillard (17-21.09)

Technique team from Théâtre de Carouge
Stage management Noé Stehlé
Lights management Eusébio Paduret
Sound management Sébastien Graz
Costumes Cécile Vercaemer-Ingles
Costumes care Marion Levite
Intallation Jean-Julien Bonzon, Gautier Janin, Manu Rutka
And all the team from Théâtre de Carouge

Production Compagnie le Fils du Grand Réseau
Coproductions Ki M’Aime Me Suive, Le Quartz – scène nationale de Brest, Carré du Rond-Point, Le Quai – CDN d’Angers Pays de la Loire, Tsen Productions, CDN de Normandie – Rouen, Le Moulin du Roc – scène
nationale à Niort, Comédie de Picardie, CPPC – Théâtre l’Aire Libre
Supports Ville de Brest, La Région Bretagne, Fonds SACD Humour/One Man Show, Le Centquatre – Paris,
Théâtre Sénart – scène nationale
La Compagnie Le Fils du Grand Réseau is subsidised by the Ministère de la Culture – DRAC Bretagne.

Created on 9 September 2020 as part of the Festival le Rond-Point dans le Jardin in Paris.

By Olivier Martin-Salvan and Pierre Guillois

From 17 September
To 5 October 2025

Main room
Duration 1h20
From 12 years old

Showtimes
Tuesday – Friday at 7.30 pm
Saturday – Sunday at 5 pm

Book ▶︎