July 14, 2016 | Theatre,

Cuisine & Confessions scores RAVE early reviews!

Transcript of Jared Bowen on WGBH Radio this AM:

“This just opened last night at Emerson. It was presented by ArtsEmerson, put on at the Majestic/Cutler Theatre. This is an American premiere, so it’s pretty exciting and it’s by the Canadian Circus company Les 7 Doigt de la main, the seven fingers of the hand.

“They’ve done a couple other performances at ArtsEmerson over the years. This is a really great one. It is exactly as the title says, it’s “cuisine and confessions.” They’ve constructed a kitchen on stage at the Cutler/Majestic and you’re welcomed into their kitchen. And really this is a performance unlike anything I’ve ever seen before, where you have an acrobatic troupe really giving confessions, telling family stories about the importance of food in their lives, whether it’s one particular meal or how families gather together. This is intertwined with dance and acrobatics and actual cooking. They make banana bread on stage, so by time you leave you’re ravenous because you can start to smell this wonderful banana bread wafting through the theatre. You do get to taste it after.”

 

Excerpt from The Boston Globe review:

“A marvelous feast is being whipped up  …  from the Montreal-based circus troupe The 7 fingers of the hand.

“These impossibly lithe and elastic performers turn themselves into human projectiles, hurtling about and above the Cutler Majestic stage as if oblivious to any limits on what is physically possible for the human body. … There are times when your eye doesn’t know where to look,’’ there’s so much happening onstage, such a captivating blur of entwined or somersaulting or jacknifing bodies.

“In one moment you’re looking at a vertical tableau in which one performer balances, single-handed, on the single hand of another. In the next, you’re seeing two performers hurl themselves through stacked rectangles, first headfirst, then feet first. Then an aerialist employs silks that resemble homespun tablecloths and proceeds to create airborne visual poetry.

“Factoring heavily into the show’s appeal are the ebullient personalities of the performers…  They interact with, and  feed  the audience, all while sustaining a burst of creative energy that recalls [a] joyous dance-party vibe.”

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• Cuisine & Confessions runs through August 7th at the Emerson / Cutler Majestic Theatre. Tickets on sale now. 617.824.8400