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"Cuisine & Confessions"
Les 7 Doigts de la Main
ArtsEmerson
at The Cutler Majestic Theatre
Through August 7th
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Thank God for
ArtsEmerson - The World On Stage! Without the innovative programming that ArtsEmerson brings to its stages each season, Boston audiences might never know about many of the unique acts that entertain us and push the envelope of our understanding of the place of art in this world.
"Cuisine & Confessions" is the latest morsel served up by this wonderful series. Montreal-based circus troupe,
Les 7 Doigts de la Main, created this intriguing show in 2014, and in the past two years they have presented it to audiences around the globe. They serve it up for the next three weeks to Boston audiences. This show is a
co-presentation by
ArtsEmerson and Jonathan Reinis Productions.
The stage of the
Cutler Majestic Theatre is set with a huge working kitchen positioned upstage. The concept of this show is that while the performers execute thrilling acrobatic moves, they will tell stories from their lives and their families - often centering on experiences of shared meals in their families of origin in Russia, Argentina, Finland, Sweden, Canada, and Rhode Island. Before the formal start of the show, audience members were invited onto the stage to help with preparation of some of the ingredients that would be used to prepare a meal of banana bread and pasta. And while the cast members are telling their stories, others are adding pasta to the boiling water putting the bread in the oven and inviting the audience members to set timers on our cell phones to signal when the bread should come out of the oven.
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"Cuisine & Confessions"
Les 7 Doigts de la Main
ArtsEmerson
at The Cutler Majestic Theatre
Through August 7th
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I realize as I try to recapture this unique evening in words, that I am missing the mark. I can't recreate the smells or suggest the ambience of warm vulnerability and instant community that the gifted cast members whipped up. It was appropriate that at the end of the performance, the cast invited audience members to come to the apron of the stage to be fed. For our souls had already been sated by the combination of physical agility and emotional vulnerability that they had dished up during the show. Particularly moving was
Melvin Diggs sharing his story of being left alone with only his mother to share a special holiday meal, for all of his siblings had been invited to be with their fathers, but his own father was not in the picture. That special meal with his mother constituted a vital memory for him. Likewise,
Matias Plaul shared the jarring and heartbreaking account of his father being captured and eventually murdered in his native Argentina during a time of political upheaval. In the midst of this this harrowing tale, Matias executed a death-defying drop from the top of the Chinese Pole to the stage below. The juxtaposition of the story with the physical manifestation of danger was profoundly moving.
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Cast
"Cuisine & Confessions"
Les 7 Doigts de la Main
ArtsEmerson
at The Cutler Majestic Theatre
Through August 7th |
The cast are:
Heloise Bourgeois, Melvin Diggs, Mishannock Ferrero, Sidney Iking Bateman, Anna Kichtchenka, Nella Niva, Emile Pineault, Matias Paul, and Pablo Pramparo. They are directed by
Shana Carroll.
The whole of this performance was far greater than the sum of its parts, and must be seen and heard and tasted to be fully appreciated.
"Cuisine & Confessions" poignantly reminds us that if we choose to participate, we are all citizens of a global village. I encourage you to come, to taste, and to see. This show leaves a very satisfying aftertaste that lingers on the tongue and on the soul.
Through August 7th.
ArtsEmerson Website
Enjoy!
Al
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