Monday, May 9, 2011

A Raft In A Sea Of Madness

This evening’s show is fast, furious, frenetic frenzy, not for the faint-hearted. As usual the one man show reveals Gaëtan Schmid at his rolling marvellous crazy best. Not only does he personify the world at large, but the individual of everybody’s body language, both personal, private and what we show our friends at foes. It certainly is an eye opener when you recognise bits and pieces of yourself. I did wonder on the night how many people saw themselves and were laughing at themselves or recognised and laughed at people they know.

After touring nationally and internationally for the last three years with the award winning and popular Rumpsteak Gaëtan moves from the food that delights us to the human gestures that unite us. As in The Dog’s Bollocks, Gaëtan in his very own hilarious and informative way will entertain audiences with the fascinating subject : the secret language of the human body. Fascinating… even if you don’t want it to, your body talks and talks and talks and it won’t ever shut up!

Anthropologically, sociologically, biologically, psychologically, neurologically, but not too seriously, Gaëtan will analyse the provenance and the hidden meaning of everyday gestures. Underneath its irrelevant and comical narrative body language, social message is on the ever increasing importance of human interaction and communication. Gaëtan says our entire social system is based on communication. If we can improve the quality of our communication we will improve the quality of our society.

As always, the Gaëtan’s shows are timelessly well seamed, red hot and meticulously primed. At the World premiere he had a very good audience to play his part and to react with the people he was entertaining. He reacts so quickly and puts himself in an audience. He takes you into one situation and you think it is going a certain way and surprise, surprise, it takes you down a completely different road, while you are racing and laughing to his cleverness of approach.

This show is a tour de force which only halts for the drinking of water and laughingly complains about the heat of the lights. We are then back on the race, which is pure fun and observation of one body part and the relation from your eyes, nose, hands and private parts. The poetic reaction to the words of body language shows the actor’s depth of not only these words but action and reaction to the farce. It is always a delight to see a true professional that he is when he has his one man act. Having seen Marcel Marcus over many years both in London and Paris I tried to equate the two acts and found it impossible, as one is silent mime and the other is a portrait as a mime artist talking, shouting and acting out his body language in a hysterical way. This must see show will tickle your fancy in many ways.

His mannerisms and gestures are sheer delight to behold!



Raymond E Meylan

Our thoughts and comments on performances and the performing arts in the Western Cape, South Africa.