Paris Fringe 2026
(W)holy Helga
Nazaret Froufe
Genre: Bouffon, Cabaret, Clown
Venue: Ground Control
Festival: Paris Fringe
Low Down
A playful and provocative solo show blending faith, absurdity, and mischief. (W)holy Helga is a contemporary performance in the spirit of the buffoon, inviting the audience on a sacred, hilarious, and disorienting journey where belief, desire, and power collide. Helga is a very good girl. When she’s good, she’s incredibly good. But when she’s naughty… well, you might just have to see it for yourself. At the crossroads of clowning, buffoonery, and contemporary cabaret, Helga draws the audience into a ceremony where laughter, participation, and unease coexist. Along the way, she reveals the unspeakable… and a bit of skin, too.
Review
An innocent looking young woman slowly walks up the aisle playing a ukulele and gently singing Amazing Grace. Her long hair is neat in blond flaxen plaits and her dress is traditional and modest. This sweet character welcomes us – exclaiming that God is welcoming us and that God is good. Eating an apple, Helga begins to address the audience and before we know it she is hallucinating around the theme of God and temptation and contorting her eyes into huge facial grimaces! Epic music plays and Helga proclaims we are all sinners!
This outlandish character, created and performed by Nazaret Froufe is a mix of clown, bouffon and contemporary cabaret and is unique! Heavily leaning into bouffon territory, Froufe is in her own world, interacts with the audience – and God – and takes us to the extremes and excesses of society – seemingly without boundaries! Therefore, buckle up to go on a roller coaster ride of an hour with (W)holy Helga! As already stated, Helga is modest and coy but also has repressed desires that must burst forth – especially when enacting religious rituals in her own way!
Helga manages to get us to pray with her while she barks orders to us to stand, no sit down, no stand! The mix of hot and cold naïveté and energy to hold back the undercurrent of this supposed good girl’s desires is wickedly delicious! This religious bouffon respectfully invites an audience member or two to assist in very successful semi improvised directed scenes and returns them safely to their seats. A communion scene is hilarious with very creative physical acting! Tiny object puppetry figures of Gabriel and Mary chat and get involved – it’s complicated! When Mary gives birth to several possible offspring it is a theatrical highlight!
Froufe is an expert at transitions, with slick costume changes and handling of several props. Although the story, character arc and physical acting while speaking “simple English” may seem chaotic, it is highly structured and very effectively performed. Every movement is choreographed – some may feel Froufe goes over the top and is too edgy, but Froufe knows the limits of how far to go as a character and performer – and pushes to achieve her points. There are so many scenes that are entertaining and make us laugh out loud, it’s best that you go and see the show!
In the last scene Froufe makes a final costume change into a sexy black lace dress. She then goes for broke in an outstanding everlasting image that will stay imprinted in our minds forever. I’ll just add that it involves a crucifix! An exorcism is needed, phew, for us all – but especially for Helga, and Helga does not disappoint! Froufe expertly takes us into a world we may have thought about but never experienced! Take the plunge and see what (W)holy Helga has in store for you in this hugely entertaining and provocative bouffonesque and clownesque cabaret of mischief and mayhem!
