Review from: Cirqu’ Aarau Festival, Switzerland; 16 June 2025
A circle of blue cushions in the station square, each with a folding stool behind, delineates the playing area for Circa Tsuïca, the musical offshoot of Cheptel Aleïkum. There’s an entrance gap with a chalk line marking the edge of the ‘stage’, with a smaller chalk circle inside delineating a track. It’s an enticing invitation to take a seat and, sure enough, the seating is soon full and more stand behind.
40 joyous minutes of cycling, music, acrobatics and comedy commence with a bicycle and trailer laden with four people and a stack of instrument cases in all sizes, entering the arena followed by a second bicycle with a further four people aboard. It’s clearly a band – all are wearing brown trousers with gold edge striping and red jackets with black lapels and gold braid. Red and black caps with a black peak complete the ensemble. Individuality and character is apparent in the lack of uniformity in the uniforms. One musician’s cap has a flamboyant feather, another’s jacket has tassels on their pockets and so on.
Cases fall or are knocked from the trailer as the bikes slow but continue to roll, and the musicians take it in turns to dismount, without touching the ground, straight onto a case. Still standing on their cases, they manage to extricate the battered instruments within – from a clarinet to a sousaphone, snare to big bass drum – and tune up before starting a gentle swing tune whilst shuffling around on their cases. They get close together enough for several of the musicians to clamber onto others as they play. The snare drummer mounts one of the bikes from his case and plays—as he rides hands free—before other musicians take it in turns to join him on his bike playing as they circle, two up. Throughout all their endeavours the band makes a good fist of keeping the tune together, even when the trombonist’s slide is pulled by a rider on the bike in front.
The show appears to have been honed before audiences over a good length of time and there’s never a dull moment. As well as playing well together musically, the band is very playful, creating games and solving problems to keep both them and us amused. When a musician touches the ground, she must accept a challenge to track stand on a bike whilst all the other instruments are gradually added to her and her bicycle. Amazingly, all are placed without mishap and then the band—some lying on the ground, some kneeling, some standing—manage to play a tune with the instruments still in place.
There are some spectacular acrobatics along the way, including a three-high on the bike and the sousaphone player standing on two trombonists (each operating their slide with their toes) to form an arch through which the other musicians enter. One of them executes fine splits as she plays.
One by one the musicians stop playing and put their instruments away until, all packed, they board the bikes and ride away. It has been a magical 40 minutes for this is a brilliant, boisterous band who pull out all the stops. If you are after a circus full of acrobats, trick riders, fools and musicians then look no further: Circa Tsuica do it all in the most entertaining manner.
CREDITS
Concept, Performance & Music Franck Bodin, Olivier Pasquet, Lola Renard, Rémi Sciuto, Charlotte Rigaut, Guillaume Dutrieux, Mikaël Vienot, Sylvain Bardiau Outside Eye Yann Ecauvre, Tom Neal, Benjamin Renard Costume Design Marion Boire, Laura Guillot Set & Props Manu Céalis Lighting Design Clément Bonnin Lighting Technician Lisa Pasquiet Administration Mélanie Fournier Tour Management Laura Guillot Project Management Olivier Pasquet
Production Cheptel Aleïkoum Supported by Theater von Brétigny; l’association CoudaCouda, Lignac; la ville Lignac; Théâtre des Minuits, Neuville sur Essonne; La Fabrique des arts / Théâtre 71, Malakoff; Région Centre Val de Loire; DRAC centre Val de Loire; Spedidam
