This Sunday afternoon, the audience came on force to see the performance of the Gandini Juggling company, Smashed. Sat in the shade of the Béthune’s Belfry, the seven artists of the company skilfully juggled apples.
Dressed in clothes from the 50’s, the two women of the company carry a fixed smile while the men exhibit remarkable phlegm. This is followed by a long series of scenes combining dance, role plays and game of seduction between the seven protagonists of the show. As music background, a music reminiscent of the war and a certain nostalgia for the 50’s and 60’s : ‘I’ve always wanted to dance in Berlin’, ‘The end of the world’,…
Little by little, as the show unfolds, rivalries appear and the competition starts between the performers. In hiding his eyes, one person prevents the other from juggling, the other performers scream : ‘drop it !’, ‘Fais tomber !’, until the apples roll on the ground Certain protagonists launch the apples which explode on the ground and splash on the audience, seated in front of the stage.
These tensions lead to certain madness. One of the protagonists starts to replace the apples by cups of tea and then tries to juggle with these somewhat inappropriate utensils. After a few seconds, all the others imitate him. Follows then, real scenes of chaos, they serve tea on the head of one of the performers, cups of tea and teapots literally fly and explode on the stage.
When everything seem to be destroyed, then all is quiet, the music is switched back on….The seven protagonists take back their apples and start their juggling acts, as if nothing had happened, in front of an astounded but seduced audience.