Paris Fringe 2026
Low Down
*Abeille* (bee), *avion* (airplane), *adieu* (farewell)… these are words that start with a lowercase “a,” but not a capital “A.” That capital letter belongs to *amour* (love). But what is it, exactly? Sylvia posed this question to all of France. She recorded it all, categorized it all, put it all into PowerPoint, and is now waiting to welcome you to her lecture. She is accompanied by her assistant, Simone—who has no “a” in her first name, but holds a very big one in her heart: the “A” from SylviA… an “A” that Sylvia herself doesn’t see.
Review
Sylvia begins her lecture – based on her research: what is love? The scene is serious, there’s a large screen with a PowerPoint display and Sylvia stands behind a lectern connecting with her audience – us! She wears a professional and chic white trouser suit and immediately makes an impression that she knows what she is doing.
Simone, her assistant arrives and things change…
While Sylvia presents in French, Simone is non-verbal and expresses herself through physical acting by physical expressions to the audience. The combination of the two contrasting characters works well and Simone shows a range of emotions reacting to the in charge no nonsense Sylvia. Sylvia discusses the changing images on the PowerPoint – a dog, Plato – and some fascinating prompts to the audience, who willingly comply!
Does another person make us a better person? Sylvia asks us, and then proceeds to enact physical examples with Simone that invariably involve acrobatic moves while wearing high heels. Simone, played by Élise Hagan is adept at these physical skills and Sylvia played by Carlota Weber bravely continues her lecture doing strength moves and balances.
The rapport between the two clown characters has its hierarchy of one serving the other in their own world, while relating to the audience their own thoughts verbally and non verbally and it is very effective. Hagan and Weber create several interesting sections around the premise of a lecture and it’s expected process, which is very relatable to us. We can empathise with Simone as she quakes in fear for having not met expectations, or arrives late and noticing Sylvia’s mildish irritation. Things go wonderfully awry somewhat when the balance between the power tilts a little and Simone’s actions dictate an outcome. Weber’s character tries to stay on course but sometimes the person we may fall for is right in front of us!
Interspersed with the lecture and short physical acro sections are very interesting brief voiceover recordings from interviewees taking part in Sylvia’s research, Lena from Toulouse and Alfred offer their opinions, which adds variety and authenticity to the storytelling. Hagan and Weber incorporate other performance strategies to tell this story, video, computer imulations, music, song, flashing lights, shadow play, mysterious white boxes, images of a nuclear family, and more!
This is a funny exploration around a theme by this skilled duo, which is entertaining, exciting and insightful. Hagan and Weber are two performers to watch as they continue to finesse this show and create others in the future.
