Review by Lauren Donikian
Chickens, cows, and wheelbarrows are all things that you would expect to see at a farm, but Animal by Cirque Alfonse exceeds all expectations with their quirky sense of humour, multi skilled performers, and humility. Without giving too much away the team at Cirque Alfonse have created a family friendly circus performance that flips farm life on its head.
An aluminium fence is used as the main backdrop and instantly transports you to an old shed on a busy farm. With a high ceiling, fan blowing in the middle and an opening for the cast to walk through the set is simple yet effective. There are tall old school milk cans scattered around the stage, pitchforks, and a giant tyre leaning against the back wall. Drums, a piano keyboard, and microphones are set to the sides of the entry ready for the show to begin. The stage is lit in blue, orange, and red hues at various stages throughout the performance as new tricks are performed by the artists.
Cirque Alfonse was founded by Antoine Carabinier-Lépine and his father Alain from Saint-Alphonse-Rodriguez, Québec and consists of a cast of acrobats including, Julie Carabinier Lépine, who is also the Artistic Director with Antoine as well as Alain Carabinier, Jonathan Casaubon, Jean-Philippe Cuerrier, Genevieve Morin. Their combined skill set, strength and clear love of the circus life only enhances the joy you experience watching them perform. Not only are they constantly moving props around, but they are also singing, playing instruments and ready to support each other in every way possible. What stood out to me was the clever resourcefulness of this company. Sylvain Lafrénière who looked after the props design used common items that you would find at the farm to enhance the performance and push the story further. For example, they added stands to wheelbarrows so they could use them to balance on and perform their aerobic feats. It is exciting to see everyday items used in such diverse ways.
As this is a circus, there are no words exchanged between the cast besides ‘hut’ when the acrobats are ready to perform a trick, so music acts as the storyteller. With original music and songs by David Simard, he and the rest of the cast including musicians Josianne Laporte, and Guillaume Turcotte belt out cool tunes which they have coined ‘agricultural funk’ throughout the performance. There is yodelling, tap dancing and a lot of high energy performances. After seeing cast members flip off a bucking bronco and then pick up a saxophone you must ask, which skill came first?
I was excited by this cast and their eccentric style and warmth that they clearly have for each other. Whether it was juggling giant bells, tiny eggs or spinning tops every cast member was involved and present. It is easy to say that the future of circus is safe with this family and generations that follow it. Looking forward to their next creation!
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