Peacock Theatre, London
January 31, 2026
Is mine a form of dance, movement, or simply theatre with the absence of the spoken word? Fish Bowl (Bigre) is Compagnie le Fils du Grand Réseau’s West End debut, following a sell-out season at the 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe with The Ice Hole.
Created by artistic director Pierre Guillois, with writers Olivier Martin-Salvan and Agathe L’Huillier, Fish Bowl follows the trials and tribulations of three neighbours living in bedsits on the attic floor of a tenement in Paris. The rooms are separated by the flimsiest of walls. The shenanigans of the two men and one woman are comically tragic, as they form friendships, share often self-made disasters, try to stave-off loneliness, and navigate life when there is very little hope of anything improving.
The work is in the style of Grand-Guignol with wacky happenings that expertly blend comedy and theatre. Although there is only a few minutes of dance as such, when it comes it is hysterically funny, the deadpan delivery only increasing the hilarity.
Photo Fabienne Rappeneau
The three performers are quite superb. Outstanding, in fact. So, what a pity then that they are not credited. Anywhere. Their contribution certainly deserves to be recognised for its high quality and immense skill. They manipulated the audience to perfection, taking us from crying with laughter, to laughing through tears, as we felt comfortable in acknowledging some of the pathos and absurdities in ourselves; a microcosm of humanity in a fish bowl.
The action all takes places in designer Laura Léonard perfect set. It showcases brilliantly tenement living anywhere, alongside the eccentricities of the three individuals trying to make their tiny bit of an impossibly small, shared space, individual. Axel Aust’s costumes also caught exactly the right note. The special effects were appropriately silly too.
All in all, Fish Bowl is a great evening’s entertainment. One that stays with you. For all its silliness, there is the distinct feeling that Guillios is showing us ourselves, holding up a mirror, and offering us a change to reflect on our own eccentricities that enable us stay on the right side of sanity. Just.
Fish Bowl was presented as part of MimeLondon 2026.