Internationally renowned clowning company Les Foutoukours return to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe withthe Scottish premiere of international multi-award-winning sensation Glob. In a dreamlike world, two characters tumble, glide and soar through a wordless world of surprises.Comical, magical and full of heart, Glob is a deeply human show for all ages that explores the concept of waiting, the unknown and the beauty of the unexpected. A Youngish Perspective holds this exclusive dialogue with Jean – Félix, co-director and performer.
• What drew you to creating a wordless world in Glob, and how does that shape the way audiences connect with the piece?
The whole work of Les Foutoukours is based on wordless clown acting, exploring how far the body and circus skills can express an idea in each production. However, in each show, a language is developed through sounds and gibberish words, adapted to the needs of the show. In Glob, everything is about gentleness and softness — something we channel into the refined set design, the costumes, our precision of movement, and also the language! Our characters express themselves through almost a single sound, monosyllabic yet capable of conveying variations according to the emotions lived on stage. From there, the characters and their language first intrigue the audience, then become deeply endearing. This allows each person to understand the story they want, according to their own life experience. This is one of the fundamental keys of our clown work: we have a story in mind, but what matters most is that the audience can create its own scenario, shaping the emotions, intentions and goals with their imagination.
• How did the idea of “waiting” become a central theme, and what does it reveal about our relationship to time and stillness?
We hear every day that life is going so fast, that we don’t have enough time, that we should concentrate on the present…it was true in 2019 when the show was created and it’s still relevant today. As artists, we live the same reality, so we forced ourselves to counter this frenetic wave with a show. How do you wait and yet remain captivating? We drew inspiration from nature — that feeling we believe is universal when watching waves, a landscape, or the dancing flames of a fire. A moment of quietude cradled by beauty, intricate movement, and great curiosity. People have lost that curiosity, that sense of wonder when they look at the ground while walking through a city. All it takes is to lift your eyes and allow yourself to be amazed by the things and people around you. Time slows down magically then. You have to be curious, to question, to observe. Being still does not mean being inactive!
• In blending clowning, circus and physical theatre, how do you decide which moments call for spectacle and which for quiet simplicity?
We often set ourselves two constraints during the creation process: every movement must be chosen for the right moment, and everything must appear effortless. So we have to calibrate the level of technique — even if we can do a backflip, if it adds nothing to the story or the emotion of the moment, we don’t do it. Circus technique is there to serve the show. In Glob, this is a major challenge, starting with the costumes that restrict certain movements, and compounded by the show’s slow pace and its pursuit of aesthetic beauty. We had to conduct acrobatic research centred on elegance and softness. We also need to create dynamic arcs within a show, to avoid staying on the same note — and that’s where juggling or tap dance brings a playful, spirited quality that renews the show’s energy.
• How did the ‘midnight sun’ inspiration influence the pacing, tone and visual language of the show?
It truly lies at the heart of the entire creative process of Glob. In 2018, we already had a desire to create a new show, and then this unique experience came along to give it direction. It happened in Norway, in Harstad, a city far to the north of the country. Rémi and I were leaving a music performance that had already been very immersive — it was 11 PM. Stepping outside, it was still light, as though it were the afternoon, yet everything was so calm. Very few people in the streets, little noise. The stillness of the night lifted by the sun, dispelling any sense of fear or dark tension, leaving only serenity. It was powerful! From that starting point, we did everything we could to transpose that lived feeling into the show and share it with audiences in our own way, using the tools we have as acrobatic clown. In the show, you can find echoes of that Norwegian experience: the whiteness of snow-covered mountains (and of Québec, where we come from), body movements that conserve energy and take their time, and the soothing glow of the globes on stage.”
• What role does live music play in guiding the emotional rhythm of a piece without dialogue?
The music, composed by the wonderful Martin Lizotte, supports all of our artistic intentions. While there are no words, our bodies already express a great deal — but the music provides the final touch to ensure that the entire audience understands the emotion being experienced. Depending on the music, the clown is sad, joyful, intrigued, and the audience can associate that with a reason: he is happy because… and so the story builds. The choice was made in favour of the comfort and gentleness of the piano, while bringing in touches of intrigue — those soft harmonic tensions that are Martin Lizotte’s great strength. Then there is the fundamental power of the clown: using every skill as an artist and bringing it onto the stage. Knowing that I play the piano, we decided to include a keyboard in the set design and arranged things so that I could perform one of the pieces live. This energized the creative process, since we had to justify the keyboard’s appearance; it adds surprise and creates a bridge between the music and the action on stage, showing that the world of Glob is a unified whole. Depending on the sightlines in the venue, audiences don’t always see my fingers on the keys — but I can assure you it’s really me playing live!
• How do your characters’ encounters with the unknown reflect broader ideas about curiosity, connection and encountering others?
Throughout the show, both of our characters’ first instinct is to be wary of the unknown. This seems to be the universal human reflex — perhaps a kind of survival instinct. But what matters is knowing how to move beyond that wariness to discover, to learn, and to grow. Moreover, in Glob, each character is not wary of the same things. It is the other who helps overcome one’s fears. This is what we believe is vital in our society. You first have to open yourself to the other, and then, together, it becomes easier to face the mysteries of life. Everyone carries his or her own experiences, which must be shared in order to go further, to surpass oneself, and to free oneself from the fear that holds action back. Curiosity and openness mean expanding and updating our limits in order to become freer.
Underbelly (McEwan Hall) from Wednesday 5th – Sunday 30th August (not 12th, 17th, 24th) at 15:00.