PERFORMANCE & COMEDY

Brewery Theatre, Bristol (Tue 24 Jan-Sat 4 Feb)

THEATRE On Fellswoop Theatre’s previous visit to The Brewery, they brought us ‘Most Drink in Secret’, a not entirely convincing ‘interrogation’ of Chekhov’s ‘The Seagull’ in which their evident talent for physical theatre and imaginative staging wasn’t matched by a firm grasp of plot or what they were actually trying to achieve. Fortunately, with ‘Belleville Rendezvous’, a devised adaptation of Sylvain Chomet’s 2003 full-length animation, they’ve found a vehicle which allows them give their theatrical inventiveness full and free rein – and the result is a delightful scamper through the story of orphan Champion, his grandmother Madame Souza, Belleville’s scariest gangster and a trio of former cabaret singers.

After his parents are killed, Champion (played initially by a puppet and then by Andy Kelly with a large stick-on nose) goes to live with granny (a cross-dressing, deadpan Josh Bridges) and develops an obsession with cycling and the Tour de France. When, however, he’s old enough and takes part in the marathon race, he’s kidnapped and taken to a gambling den where mobsters bet on which cyclist’s going to die first. Madame Souza, meanwhile, sets out with oversized dog Bruno (Jesse Meadows sporting a leather hold-all) to rescue him, crossing the sea in a pedalo and winding up in Belleville where the aforementioned trio of singers help with her daring mission into the gangsters lair.

Fellswoop play out this tale with both energy and panache, summoning up characters and scenes using an impressive mix of mime, dance and puppetry techniques. Suitcases serve as walls, windows and even musical instruments and, in what is, perhaps, the show’s most inventive single moment, bicycle wheels become crashing breakers. It’s all held together by a suitably jazzy and retro live soundtrack (played on, amongst other things, bass, ukulele and typewriter) and some DIY sound effects, and while there are one or two clunks and longueurs, the company’s engaging enthusiasm and the zip and zest of the story make ‘Belleville Rendezvous’ as charming a slice of physical theatre as you could wish for. (Eric Blair)

Copyright Eric Blair 2012