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Les Antliaclastes: Waltz of the Hommelettes

London International Mime Festival 2019

In this magical cabinet of curiosities, with hints of Alice in Wonderland and Brothers Grimm, events are controlled by a giant, Black Forest cuckoo clock, supernatural in its counting of hours. 

A shoemaker, a mother bird who spins wool and a menacing, musket-toting rabbit are the protagonists in three interwoven tales filled with striking imagery, surprises, twists and turns. When the clock strikes thirteen, elves and goblins appear from inside its mechanical gears and wheels. They manipulate time and rearrange our notion of the natural order so that humans no longer control affairs. Then the fun begins.
 
Artistic Director Patrick Sims, co-founder of both Buchinger’s Boot Marionettes and Les Antliaclastes, uses masked performers, extraordinary music and sound, automatons and sculptural puppets to achieve his fantastical universe. An eerily delightful folklorish adventure, Waltz of the Hommelettes remains faithful to the child logic, adult hypocrisy, cruelty and humour of traditional fairytales.
 

Duration: 1 hour, no interval
Age guidance: 7+

Thu 17 Jan
Post-show talk
 
Free to same-day ticket holders

Presented by the Barbican in association with London International Mime Festival

This visit to London is supported by Institut français du Royaume-Uni
 

Reviews

‘Darkly comic and absurdly charming‘
‘Crazy, very funny and deliciously irreverent‘

Digital freesheet

The Pit