Talk Show • Gaël Santisteva

The body, the circus, the feats, life moving forward – and leaving its mark along the way. Talk Show reveals the moving life stories of circus performers. Appearing regularly in our programmes, Gaël Santisteva, in one of his ‘classics’, imagines a space where circus performers can reveal themselves – somewhere between a TV quiz show and a discussion group where they can come and tell their stories anyway they want. Instead of putting on dazzling acts, they share confidences that reveal what they have gone through in the course of their often unusual careers: physical performances, behind-the-scenes stories, limitations, shortcomings — very real dramas as well as some more unlikely and frankly absurd episodes. The performers discuss their lives shaped by practice and risk while questioning the brutal notion of the body’s ‘best-by date’. A lucid and impertinent partner, Gaël Santisteva takes on the role of moderator, asking questions that the performers answer either by telling their story or performing on stage. Each performance – unique in its own right – is inevitably moving: beyond personal stories, we perceive the universal significance of these shared tales – and the rare and almost radical gift of their exposed vulnerability. The performance on 24 March will be presented in a Relax format. Gaël Santisteva is an associate artist at the Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles