The sound of silence

The one thing you should never do before attending a performance is reading the programme. (But you are more than welcome to do it afterwards). This applies to “Les Géomètres” in particular. The way they play with scenery and props does suggest they are at home in the visual arts scene. You get a poetic view on post-apocalyptic life on Earth. And if we succeed to retain at least some of Hyppolite Hentgen’s inventiveness and sense of humour, there might still be hope for humanity, after all.

Von Renad Melamed

Hippolyte Hentgen’s Les Géomètres looks like classical avant-garde theatre with the merging of actors and set decoration, and the attempt to unify visual and performative arts as done by Picasso and the Ballets Russes for the cubist theatre Parade. While this reference background applies to the inanimate geometric objects and the dancer representing the circle, the other figures – a six-handed man, a piece of chewed gum with furry feet, and a giant bear with flood lights for eyes – originate from the aesthetic of contemporary graphic novels. But the potential of this strong imagery has been relinquished by the eschewal of a narrative, the performance remaining static for the most part.

Von Katharina Knüppel

The lack of sound was the thing that spoke loudest to me. The silence of the piece apart from the noise of the scenery and characters moving meant that I became very distracted through the performance wanting and needing sound to be made. The piece felt like a piece of movement and therefore I couldn’t understand why there was no noise, even rhythm.

Von Gemma Sapp

The scene is a magnificent place where everything has a right to exist. To be realized. Paradoxically, freedom goes hand in hand with the limitations that arise as a result of drifting in a specific direction. The animation of matter on the scene intentionally initiates the creative process that they undertake. As a viewer, I am given a key to their world, to the newly explored dimension.

Von Tomasz Urbański

The actor who has six hands. The ugly, huge brain which needs to contact with a mountain. The bear who takes care about others. The little dancer with a face full of hair. The paintings in the background...

Von Iwona Rozbiewska