BARBU Electro Trad Cabaret delves into the origins of the circus in Montreal at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. Imagine a fairground, where spectators are left spellbound by remarkable performances and outrageous feats, simple curiosities and unexpected eccentricities. Political correctness has no place in the mayhem of this show. In scene after scene where music, video, circus and general craziness collide, each performer wows the audience with a showcase of spectacular skills. May the best beard win! Backed by a frenetic electro-trad band, the Cirque Alfonse clan strays dangerously close to the edge in this exuberant circus rave.

Since its inception, Cirque Alfonse has been exploring traditional iconic Quebec images, integrating them into a truly innovative form of contemporary acrobatics. In the Lanaudière region of Quebec, the Carabinier-Lépine family and their close friends joined forces in 2005, and the following year they created La Brunante. The show became the foundation for Timber! which the company premiered in 2010. This highly original production has been an undeniable success with more than 250 performances in 13 countries to date. The Cirque Alfonse clan created its third show in 2014: BARBU Electro Trad Cabaret, an off-the-wall, rollicking extravaganza. Timber! explored life in lumberjack camps; BARBU takes its inspiration from the carnivals andsideshows of bygone days. It’s history with a contemporary twist.

You can almost smell the fresh-cut pine logs and the sweat of lumberjacks as you watch them jiving to a traditional folk soundtrack. The young circus troupe hails from a small town called Saint-Alphonse-Rodriguez and they have clearly drawn upon their country roots to find inspiration and energy for this unique creative project. Timber !, is clearly off the beaten track. The show’s creators designed unusual acrobatic apparatus inspired directly from the forestry resources available on their real-life family farm. The experience feels and smells authentic. The artists perform incredible feats of aerial acrobatics that are directly inspired by the natural raw materials of the forest and the equipment used on the farm. The atmosphere is hyper-festive. The talented acrobats and musicians create a colourful, energetic scene where we can witness epic feats of agility and strength, inspired by the exploits of the first North-American lumberjacks, loggers and farmers.

The action is set in a lumber-camp,where there is merriment and mischief on an outhouse and the company juggle and chop vegetables at high speed for the family stew pot. Beards, muscles, checked lumberjack shirts and long-johns abound, and staying true to their roots, the axes, saws and knives used in the show are genuine and sharpened and the cast don’t wear steel toe capped boots or any protection other than gloves. Taking authenticity to new heights, when Cirque Alfonse rehearsed in their unheated Québecois barn, they sawed wood as a warm-up to their rehearsals.