I guess not too many are familiar with the name James Thierree, a mouthful to start with if your normal language is English. But if you mention Charlie Chaplin, everybody but everybody knows him, whatever nationality you are, as he is definitely the world known figure.
Son of artists, James is the grandson of Charlie Chaplin. He is director, actor, acrobat, violinist ... After dazzling the public with 'La Veillee des Abysses' he returned with 'Raoul'. Who is Raoul? James explained in a TV interview that Raoul is a character with huge conflict with himself. He attacks a tower and discovers that locked inside is himself. It's a metaphor of the struggle of man to free himself of the shell, the casing, that he constructed as defence. Although the scenario is dark, it's a visual party. There are humour, dance and merriment. It's an optimistic story. The show just premièred in the National Theatre of Catalunya.
It might seem that Raoul is lonely, a solitary figure, but not really so; he's visited by animals. In the show, the animals are cloth puppets, as real and live ones are prohibited to be used as performers in Barcelona. I am glad this is so, as seeing an elephant doing silly and absurd dance steps but with sad eyes and miserable expression just hurts my sensibility.
Apparently he is a real good magician as well. I know full well that all magic on stage is just tricks, clever illusions and seamless manipulation, but the child in me always enjoys magic, more admiring the perfect skill that has me willingly and happily fooled, for just a moment. He is great in that he never uses computer enhanced tricks, the beauty and intrigue based only on simplicity, added with theatrical performance. My cup of tea.
