"Fat People Skate Well. A Cardboard Cabaret'

Paris l’été Festival

Another oddball success, “Fat People Skate Well. A Cardboard Cabaret “won a number of awards in France this year, and they were thoroughly deserved. The show’s two actors and directors, Olivier Martin-Salvan and Pierre Guillois, tell their story almost entirely through dozens of cardboard objects. Words written on the signs and boxes, of various shapes and forms, explain what each represents – including a “fjord” and a “fly swatter”- and with the help of assistants, Guillois , a lithe,  clownlike figure, in boxer shorts throughout, manipulates them at lightning speed. In the tale he spins, Martin-Salvan’S character goes on an adventure around Europe to reconnect with a siren, all the while mumbling in a mix of gibberish and English. How does this all add up, you ask ? The duo’s fantasy world coheres thanks to extraordinary stagecraft in this “cardboard cabaret,  ” and the result is serious theater magic.