Famed Russian clown Slava Polunin's troupe returned to Montreal's St-Denis Theater on Tuesday evening to present the must-see and iconic winter show. Slava's snow show.
Since its creation in 1993, the piece has enjoyed great success, particularly in Quebec, where it has enjoyed a long love affair since 1999. More than 230,000 tickets have been sold in the province over the past 25 years.
Robert Saralp in the show “Slava's Snowshow”, presented at the St-Denis Theater on Tuesday, February 6th. MARIO BEAUREGARD/AGENCE QMI
Halfway between lyrical theater and clown comedy, the show stages the epic of a clown (Robert Saralp) and his followers – including Vanja Polunin, the son of Slava Polunin – all dressed in a green coat, a large hat and long shoes. They run around, fight, help each other, make mistakes. In a way, the piece presents the world of dreams and winter loneliness, melancholy, friendship and the farewell of a loved one.
As night falls, the audience is immersed in an imaginary, dreamlike world. Sometimes he is involved in this burlesque comedy against his will – and is often surprised – be it by splashes of water or a huge spider web that ends up covering the entire floor of the room. , present to the great joy of the children, who on Tuesday evening could not hide their joy at touching this funny thing.
The men with the red noses also broke the fourth wall a few times during this performance – but remained true to their role – especially during the break, when they crossed the room, took photos with the audience, walked through the aisles, danced and spread confetti everywhere.
They also played the role of audience entertainers, interacting with the space with onomatopoeic crescendos to elicit reactions that were sometimes joyful, sometimes comical, and sometimes melancholic.
MARIO BEAUREGARD/AGENCE QMI
But obviously the storm (of the century) at the very end remains one of the best parts of the show and probably the most symbolic part of this world-famous work – which was seen by more than five million viewers around the world during the program, which featured an explosion of paper snow falls across the room as a blinding light dazzles the front rows.
Although the artists are silent throughout the performance, the body language is more than impressive. The comic effect arises both from the amusing noises and onomatopoeia of the protagonists as well as from the silence and the unique gestures of these clowns to whom we become attached.
After 25 years of performances in Quebec, the show remains as spontaneous and magical as it has been since its first performance. It instantly transports adults back to childhood and is as timeless and universal as it is poetic.
Robert Saralp and Vanya Polunin in the show “Slava's Snowshow” at the St-Denis Theater. MARIO BEAUREGARD/AGENCE QMI
Slava's Snow Show will be presented at the St-Denis Theater until February 11th, then stop at the Salle Albert-Rousseau in Quebec City from February 14th to 18th.