Once upon a time today, in three small attic apartments in Paris, a big man, a tall thin man and a curvaceous blonde are neighbours. This would be a romantic story if it wasn’t for the fact that these three odd-balls have a special talent for messing things up. Messing everything up. With one disaster leading to another amidst a deluge of jokes, this quirky trio cling to anything that looks like love, life or hope.
Review by Stephen Gilchrist
One of my favourite films has been, from the first when it was shown to me at school, the 1930 Rene Claire movie Under the Roofs of Paris (French: Sous les toits de Paris) the earliest French example of a filmed musical-comedy. In a working-class district of Paris, Albert, a penniless street singer, lives in an attic room. He meets a beautiful Romanian girl, Pola, and falls in love with her; but he is not the only one, since his best friend Louis and the gangster Fred are also under her spell.
I was reminded of the film as I sat in the packed house of the Peacock Theatre laughing like a drain, loudly and heartily at the speechless antics of this ultra talented company. Pierre Guillois is the genius who has co- created this entertainment (and co-written by Agathe L’Huillier and Olivier Martin-Salvan) produced and directed it and stars in it. It might equally be called Sur les toits de Paris (Over the Roofs of Paris) as the action takes place in, out, and on top of the three attic apartments designed by Laura Léonard and lit by Marie-Hélène Pinon and David Carreira. This show won the Molière Award for Best Comedy in 2017 and comes to Sadler’s Wells as part of Mime London.
The three adjoining attic apartments (set by Alafrez, Ludovic Perché, Judith Dubois, Guillaume Junot ) are each occupied by a quirky individual. One is a big bearded obsessively clean man, Olivier Martin-Salvan who occupies a robotically operated pristine white flat. The second, by a blonde who shares her favours generously, (Agathe L’Huillie) in her shabbily sedate attic room, while trying to have a go at home self- teaching in everything from hairdressing, chiropractic manipulation to nursing, all with disastrous results. The resident of the third, central, flat is a chaotic tall thin loner, Guillois, whose attempts at virtually everything result in a series of calamities.
The eighty minute narrative consists of scenes in which the neighbours collide, annoy, love and party with each other in both broad comedy, and sometimes in touching moments. The style varies from that of the silent movie comics. Chaplin and Keaton, to Mr Bean, to the humorously embarrassing events of the Carry On series. There are pratfalls, pieces of clothing and toupees swept away by the wind, fires start, there are falls out of windows, a goldfish gets flushed down the toilet in error, with an attempted rescue by a plunger, all to brilliantly managed sound effects, and some to music.
The three performers are all expert in physical comedy, particularly so Guillois, who more than anything looks like a stick man whose manipulation of his body in slapstick, clowning, mime, and physical stunts is an experience, once seen, not easily forgotten.
There are both tender and (many) rude moments. The characters sometimes pair off, leaving the third isolated and excluded, yet there is also a bonhomie in the relationships between the three which is endearing, charming and very French.
The set is a wonder and the time critical stage managed effects superbly handled with more moving parts, than you could shake a stick at. If I have one criticism, and I suppose it is not a critique of the work, It is that I considered the 1000-seater Peacock with its enormous stage, too large a venue for this essentially intimate show. Some of the comedy moments are small moments and on occasion not easily visible. It deserves a more intimate space.
Mime can sometimes be an acquired taste. I was never a great fan of Marcel Marceau, while acknowledging his brilliance and was neutral about Chaplin, but I guarantee that if you go to ‘Fishbowl’ you will have a laugh out loud evening of pure joy. Oh, and there is an actual fishbowl!
Photo credit: Fabienne Rappeneau
Fish Bowl
Wednesday 28th January – Saturday 31st January 2026
Sadler’s Wells Peacock Theatre, Portugal Street, London WC2A 2HT
Tickets available
https://www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/le-fils-du-grand-resaeu-fishbowl/
75 minutes
Writers Pierre Guillois with Agathe L’Huillier and Olivier Martin-Salvan
Director Pierre Guillois
Assistant Director Robin Causse
Costume Designer Axel Aust
Set Designer Laura Léonard
Lighting Designer Marie-Hélène Pinon and David Carreira
Hair/Wigs/Make-Up Catherine Saint-Sever
Sound Designer Roland Auffret and Loïc Le Cadre
Special Effects Abdul Alafrez, Ludovic Perché, Judith Dubois, Guillaume Junot
Set Atelier JIPANCO and the technical team of Le Quartz, Scène
nationale de Brest
Social Media
Twitter @Fishbowltheplay, @storiesintheatr, @Sadlers_Wells
Facebook @SadlersWells
Instagram @sadlers_wells
Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAbYPiC8QQo