Review from: Cirqu’ Aarau Festival, Switzerland; 18th June 2025
This is the second time that I have had the fortune to view Cie Sacékripa‘s Surcouf from a riverbank, and I would happily spend another 40 minutes watching it again. A very small pontoon stage floats in the water and, around the time the performance is to start, a dinghy approaches. It is skulled in a relaxed manner by two good-humoured, bearded and balding men, casually dressed and nearing middle age, one (Benjamin De Matteïs) notably rounder than the other (Mickaël Le Guen).
A speaker is placed on the pontoon as the small craft draws alongside, then Le Guen clambers out and is passed the oars of the dinghy by De Matteïs, who manages – just – to clamber on too. As The Andrews Sisters’ Rum and Coca-Cola plays, the duo attempt to install a banner saying Surcouf at the back of the pontoon, which tips alarmingly. The speaker that was mounted equally precariously on a pole falls into the river. Pulled out, water sluices from the speaker over the pontoon and the duo attempts ‘their act’ in which one will stand on the shoulders of the other.
The question, of course, is not whether one or both will end up in the river but when.
They play this game supremely well. Along the way, acrobatic balances more or less happen on the dinghy, beer is consumed – De Matteïs taking care to keep the open bottle above water despite his head being under it – and synchronised swimming is displayed. Le Guen and De Matteïs came together in 2021 at Le Lido in Toulouse, and have the friendly, understated but rib-tickling humour that I associate with this professional circus centre. I doubt one could find a more gentle and humorous show to entertain the family on a summer’s day by a river.
CREDITS
Conception & Performance Mickaël Le Guen, Benjamin De Matteïs Construction Floss Frédéric Dyonnet Coach Synchronized Swimming Inès (Toulouse Nat’Synchro) Technique Fabien Megnin Administration Lucile Hortala Tour Virginie Parmentier
Produktion Cie Sacékripa Co-production Festival Plein Cirque, De Warande, Turnhout; Theater op de Markt, Dommelhof, Province of Limburg; City of Muzillac; ARTO, Ramonville; City of Saint-Herblain – Théâtre Onyx; City of Pont-l’Abbé – F.A.D.O.C; La Grainerie – Factory for Circus and Itinerant Arts, Balma Supported by: DRAC Occitanie; Occitanie Region; Departmental Council of Haute-Garonne; City of Toulouse Residencies Theater op de Markt, Dommelhof, Province of Limburg; Association des Clous, Assier; ARTO – Le Kiwi, Ramonville; City of Toulouse – Alban Minville Cultural Center; City of Saint-Herblain – Théâtre Onyx; City of Pont-l’Abbé – Le Triskell
