THE ORPHAN CIRCUS
LES SAGES FOUS
This little circus is a haven for orphaned objects and puppets born strange.
Among the debris of a scrap yard, between used oil cans,
rusted sheet metal, and miscellaneous lost objects,
Les Sages Fous invite you to a clandestine rendezvous.
Two junk peddlers create a small circus of visual tableaux evoking the life of a cabaret troupe of derelicts and misfits. The dark alley becomes a outlet for dreams, a place where glitter and ash entwine, where magic and mystery is brewd in the trash cans. Underneath the dirt and the rust there are treasures to be found.
In the blind spot of the multinational entertainment industry, this little circus is a victory of the poor and the small; a place where the gruesome become the circus beauties, the old and rusted become the acrobates, and where even impossible love can be fulfilled.
A haven for orphaned objects, recycled artists and puppets born strange. This wayward troupe is ruled with an iron fist by none other than the elusive, the fictional, the mysterious impressario,
Monsieur P.T. Issimo… himself!
Rehabilitation or exploitation?
Dream or reality?
It is for you to judge, Ladies and Gentlemen!
The show has been part of the official selection of more than 60 international theater festivals and theater seasons in 16 countries.
VIDEOS EXTRACTS
– Watch a 15 minute video excerpt
or a 2 minute excerpt of The Orphan Circus.
– FULL VIDEO AVAILABLE ON REQUEST
PRESS EXCERPTS
” I wait for that one show that blows me away – a performance for which I do not need to make allowances, or equivocate in my praise. In my week at FIAMS, that show was Le Cirque Orphelin by Les Sages Fous (…) their ingenious probing of puppetry’s endless potential to transform and delight. “
– Andrew Periale, UNIMA – USA Newsletter, 2019
” The outstanding show of this year’s FIAMS programme was, for my money, Le Cirque Orphelin, by Quebecois company Les Sages Fous. Highly original, beautifully quirky, sometimes disconcerting and, often, very funny, it creates, in a room that is the quintessence of dilapidated urbanism, a miniature circus of vagabond artists. “
– Mark Brown, The Herald, Scotland 2019
“… I have just seen the most poetic, magical, mysterious, surprising, moving, brilliant, small and large show.”
Dorthe Kolding, Herning Folkeblag
Herning, Denmark
” Les Sages Fous deserve several times the standing ovation that salutes their work at each performance. If you have never joined the crowd of applauding people, it is time to come and sit in front of the caravan of this Circus ! “
– Mathieu Dochtermann, Toute la culture, France, 2019
PRIZES AND MENTIIONS
Jury Award – Best of Festival –
at the National Puppetry Festival
(Puppeteers of America)
Connecticut, USA, 2015
Audience choice Award – Best of Festival –
at the National Puppetry Festival
(Puppeteers of America)
Connecticut, USA, 2015
Best performance – adult
at the XVIII Międzynarodowy
Festiwal Teatrów Lalek SPOTKANIA
Torun, Poland, 2011
Award for set design
at the XVIII Międzynarodowy
Festiwal Teatrów Lalek SPOTKANIA
Torun, Poland, 2011
Award for the best lighting design
PIF Festival, Zagreb, Croatia, 2012
Production award in performing arts
Arts Excellence awards
Culture Mauricie, Québec, 2010
Credits
MASKS AND PUPPETS – South Miller
PUPPET MASTER – Jacob Brindamour
MECHANISMS AND PATENTS – Sylvain Longpré
MUSIC – Christian Laflamme
ACTORS / PUPPETEERS
Jacob Brindamour and Céline Chevrier
