Elie Semoun « Cactus »

Elie Semoun returns with Cactus, his eighth show, and sets up at the Centre culturel Saint‑Exupéry Franconville on Tuesday, May 12, 2026. A familiar fixture on the stage, he here explores a more direct terrain: stand‑up takes a larger place without renouncing what marks his signature — a gallery of characters that paint an acerbic, clear‑eyed portrait of our era.

Cactus crosses sensitive subjects without averting its gaze. You encounter a son who takes his father to visit a nursing home (EHPAD), a parent facing their child’s transition, Xavier, who has a motor disability, introducing his partner to his mother, a karate instructor with nauseating ideas, and a tightrope stretched between sexual harassment and religion. Jean Abdul paves the way as the opening act, a kind of buffer before a succession of tableaux where the absurd and the real rub up against each other.

After thirty years on stage, Elie Semoun tightens his writing, mixes confidences and sketches, and alternates direct address with character portrayals. He questions intolerance, taboos, and injustice with a dry, precise humor that prefers nuance to effects. Cactus does not soften the edges: it displays them and leaves the audience to grapple with them.