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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