March 28, 2023 | Theatre,

Raphaëlle Boitel: the artist behind shadows cast

After a successful run of her show, When Angels Fall, in 2019 at the Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre, ArtsEmerson is proud to welcome back performer Raphaëlle Boitel for Shadows Cast, opening on March 30 at the Emerson Paramount Center.

At a young age, Raphaëlle and her brother, Camille, became interested in the circus arts after seeing a circus performance. When Raphaëlle and Camille expressed this interest to their mother, Lilou, who was encouraging  but  didn’t have the income to support Raphaëlle and Camille’s endeavors. Lilou suggested her children go out into the world and earn the money themselves, which led the pair to becoming street performers for cash and spare change. 

Using the money made from street performing, the Boitels saved up to attend a workshop with notable French clown and performer, Annie Fratellini. The Boitels had to save up around 5,000 francs (about $5,500 USD), to attend the workshop and they put all the money they made through street performing toward their tuition. Annie and her team heard about this and were touched by the Boitel family’s dedication and invited the Boitels to attend her circus arts school in Paris for no charge. Raphaëlle and her family stayed in Paris for five years, during which time she began to act in films, leading her to an introduction with James Thierrée 

Thierrée was a fellow actor and circus performer as well as the grandson of silent film star Charlie Chaplin. The Boitel family befriended Thierrée and they began to work together, with Raphaëlle performing and her mother, Lilou, designing costumes for Thierrée’s show, La Symphonie du Hanneton (The Junebug Symphony). 

Throughout the 2000s, Raphaëlle continued to perform in Thierrée’s work, including La Veillée des Abysses (Bright Abyss), as well as other productions like Graham Eatough’s Futurology: A Global Revue, and Spiegelworld’s Desir. Incorporating circus arts, dance, opera, and aerial acrobatics, La Veillée des Abysses received much praise from critics, with The Guardian calling it “a marvel, unlike any piece of circus that you have ever seen.” and simply stating that “ It will blow you away.” Eatough’s Futurology, a political satire set at a fictional UN conference, received similar rave reviews with Variety Magazine stating that “The strength of the performances and the wittiness of the script, however, ensure a stimulating and entertaining evening, made memorable by a bold and original structure and spiced by the flavor of topicality.” Spiegelworld’s Desir, which is described by TheaterMania as “a theatrical circus experience inspired by the sexual, intellectual and artistic adventurers of early 20th century Paris,” received positive reviews from critics as well. 

In 2012, she founded her own performance group, Cie L’Oublié(e). In 2014, Raphaëlle debuted the group’s first piece, L’Oublié(e) (The Forgotten), which she wrote, directed, and starred in. The performance also starred Raphaëlle’s sister, Alice, and Lilou. Lilou also worked on costume design and Raphaélle’s brother, Silvère, handled the sound design.  L’Oublié(e) follows a woman “wandering through the ruins of her memory, she encounters moments of ecstasy, secret dreams, and haunting apparitions.”  L’Oublié(e) received many positive reviews and acclaim, especially for a debut work. Thomas H. Green for The Arts Desk wrote that “the debut show of French dancer and contortionist Raphaëlle Boitel is an imagistic, allegorical hour, heavily dipped in circus techniques, yet mostly deserting that medium’s levity and comedy in favour of an abject hallucinatory quality.”

Raphaëlle and Cie L’Oublié(e) continued to write and direct pieces such as Fierce 5/5th Hurlants, The Black Beast, and When Angels Fall. When Angels Fall premiered at ArtsEmerson in 2019 and was an absolute hit. When Angels Fall explores a dark, dystopian future. No context is given to what this world is or who the characters are, leaving it up to the audience’s interpretation. Two things are certain in When Angels Fall: the characters are yearning for connection and that there is always hope, a literal light that follows these characters. Boitel considers this light to be a character in of itself, as it inspires the characters to persevere through the hardships they face. The piece has very little dialogue and is told almost exclusively through movement, acrobatics, and circus arts. Many outlets have praised Boitel’s choreography and direction for When Angels Fall, Broadway World shared that “Raphaëlle Boitel’s storytelling is singular, and her ability to transform space in the air to the ground with large scale illusions – and bodies streaming across the stage – is magical.” 

Now, four years after the success of When Angels Fall, Raphaëlle Boitel is returning to the ArtsEmerson stage with her most recent piece, Shadows Cast. Shadows Cast explores family and personal trauma, and how it can have the power to heal or undo us. A mix of circus arts, dance, and cinema, Raphaëlle looks to find light in the shadows of our lives. 

Raphaëlle Boitel’s Shadows Cast will be performed on the Robert J. Orchard Stage at the Emerson College Paramount Center from March 30th – April 2nd, 2023. For more information and to purchase tickets please click here. 

Paige Walker, March 2023