One-on-one – Circus, juggling and acrobatics by the L'Oublié(e) Company in Portes-lès-Valence

Le 09 february 2027 at 18:30

One Against One is a contemporary circus show conceived by director and choreographer Raphaëlle Boitel for the Compagnie L'Oublié(e). Presented on Tuesday, February 9, 2027 at the Train Théâtre in Portes-lès-Valence, in the Drôme region, this family show, suitable for ages 6 and up, blends juggling, aerial acrobatics, dance, contortion, lifts, visual theatre and live music in a creation lasting approximately 50 minutes.

Freely inspired by the famous myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, the creation shifts the focus to Eurydice and imagines what she might experience during her time in the Underworld. Raphaëlle Boitel takes hold of the mythological narrative to construct a physical, poetic, and sometimes surreal work, in which the boundaries between heaven and hell, shadow and light, confinement and freedom become particularly fluid.

On stage, Alejandro Escobedo and Julieta Salz bring this world to life through dance and circus arts. Alejandro Escobedo combines dance, acrobatics, and juggling, while the two performers' bodies move within a constantly evolving set design.

Ladders, supports, fabrics, structures, and modular objects transform the stage into a veritable circus playground. The performers climb, fall, lift each other, contort themselves, appear, and then disappear. The work with verticality allows the bodies to regularly leave the ground: they rise into the air before plunging back into darkness, as if they were constantly moving between two worlds.

Juggling naturally finds its place in this highly physical style of writing. It is not a succession of independent acts but a language integrated into the dramaturgy, on par with acrobatics, dance, or the manipulation of set elements. Circus disciplines thus fully participate in the narrative and the development of relationships between the characters.

Music also plays a vital role. In this version with live music, the two circus performers share the stage with a string quartet composed of Sarah Tanguy, Elena Perrain, François Goliot, and Clément Keller. Their presence, deliberately discreet and almost ghostly, accompanies the performers' appearances and disappearances, reinforcing the show's mysterious atmosphere. The original music is by Arthur Bison.

This encounter between bodies, apparatus, objects, light, and instruments creates a particularly visual spectacle. Raphaëlle Boitel works with contrasts: high and low, shadow and light, appearance and disappearance, proximity and separation. The two characters can be very close without ever truly meeting, giving a sensitive dimension to this reinterpretation of the mythological couple.

Behind its playful and accessible world for children, Un contre un (One Against One) also tackles deeper questions. Raphaëlle Boitel uses myth to explore the role of women, stereotypes, relationships with others, boundaries, freedom, emancipation, and the codes inherited from a patriarchal society. The work also evokes the quest for self and how each individual can find their own place in relation to others.

The show, however, adopts a tragicomic, inventive, and poetic tone, allowing for several levels of interpretation. Younger viewers can be swept away by the acrobatics, juggling, set transformations, and visual situations, while adults can perceive the social and symbolic themes that run through the work.

Created by an artist from the circus arts – Raphaëlle Boitel was notably trained at the Fratellini National Circus Arts School –, Un contre un illustrates a form of contemporary circus in which circus disciplines closely meet choreography, theatre and musical creation.

A great opportunity to discover at the Train Theatre in Portes-lès-Valence a show where juggling, aerial acrobatics, lifts, contortion, dance and live music serve a story accessible from age 6, which is funny, delicate and visually inventive.

🎪 Artistic Team

Company: Cie L'Oublié(e) – Raphaëlle Boitel

Directed and choreographed by: Raphaëlle Boitel
Artistic collaboration and lighting: Tristan Baudoin
Artistic assistant: Alba Faivre
Original music: Arthur Bison
Costumes: Jean-Philippe Blanc / Workshops of the Bordeaux National Opera
Performers: Alejandro Escobedo and Julieta Salz or Marie Tribouilloy
Musicians: Sarah Tanguy, Elena Perrain, François Goliot and Clément Keller
Lighting and tour management: Elodie Labat
Sound engineering and arrangements: Nicolas Gardel.

🏗️ Production

Production: Compagnie L'Oublié(e) – Raphaëlle Boitel

Co-production: Agora PNC Boulazac Aquitaine, Le Carré Magique – National Circus Centre in Brittany in Lannion, OARA – Artistic Office of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region, CREAC Cité Cirque de Bègles and Champ de Foire in Saint-André-de-Cubzac.

The project also benefits from support from the Théâtre d'Angoulême, the Théâtre des Quatre Saisons in Gradignan, the Maison Maria Casarès and the Opéra National de Bordeaux.

• Site du Train Théâtre
• Page officielle du spectacle
• Billetterie officielle
• Page officielle de la Cie L’Oublié(e) – version musique live

One against one