Leandre and Cia La Tal. "Demodes". International Theatres Festival "Sementes" in Almada, Portugal, 2009 http://www.leandre.es/ http://www.cialatal.com 
About Leandre
I can only write with the tender feeling of deepest love. His "nervous”
and subtle talents are expressed not only in acting, but also in directing. Also when he directs performances for other theatres. A spectacular feature of his character – a glance - an acute
distrust surprise to everyone's attention, penetrating, searching for something
in the audience - is a memorable actor's credo, which develops the theme of a
small man. In "Demodes” performance
Leandre appears with two other clowns, completing a worthy trio, which
recollects to unforgettable Frattellini brothers. Even
the characters of Leandre’s partners resemble the famous clowns. Only
Leandre in a green coat with small horns on his bald head looks out of place
between these two clowns - White and Red. That
emphasizes the tragedy of his situation. The
artists play the old story about the world of forgotten unemployed clowns,
clinging to every possibility of revival of the show. But
their old jokes are naive and not funny. Even when performed specially for a
single spectator, who is taken to the stage. Ridiculous
they are themselves. There
is more circus in their
touching relations and uncomplicated handling of the circus stuff, than in
their well-trained sketches. So this sad dilemma vividly embodies in the finale, when
the trio, sadly dragging their belongings, gets out the stage under constant
laugh of the audience. One of the boxes suddenly rises and appears a majestically
huge circus elephant – a rendered spirit of the true circus. Intelligent
clowning, skillful manipulation with the pauses, subtle nuances of the game, a
wonderful scene with daunting a goldfish. They have everything - fire, water
and other attributes of street theatre, a big Boom in the end. The
elegant sketches are skillfully directed into the whole
story. This does not allow the play to become the divertissement of individual gags. Elimination
or substitution of one of the performers would kill the show. This
great aesthetic and psychological balance of the artists unites the best
traditions of theatre and clowning. more pictures of Leandre
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