Elie Semoun « Cactus »

Elie Semoun presents Cactus, his eighth show, which incorporates more stand-up into his repertoire of characters. With his gift for portraiture and for situations that spiral out of control, he unfolds a new gallery of sharply drawn figures. Among them are Jean Abdul, who gives himself his own opening act; a son who shows his father around a nursing home (EHPAD); Xavier, who has a motor disability and introduces his wife to his mother; and a father confronting his son’s transition. He also enters a karate class led by an openly racist instructor, and tackles sexual harassment, religion and other slippery subjects, alternating written sketches with raw, unfiltered moments at the mic. Semoun addresses topical issues head-on, working with incongruity, the absurd and the observation of everyday life. With thirty years on stage behind him, he revisits his obsessions, experiments with new forms and fine-tunes the balance between character work and direct address. Cactus runs on 31 March 2027 at L’EMC2 in Saint-Grégoire.