BIGRE / “FISH BOWL”
Peacock Theatre
★★★★
“heartfelt, inventive and highly entertaining”
Once upon a time, three people met and found themselves far closer than they ever intended. Not because they shared interests or similarities, quite the opposite. They have almost nothing in common, and their unlikely proximity only seems to invite chaos, misunderstandings, and small everyday disasters.
Fish Bowl, written and directed by Pierre Guillois, with Agathe L’Huillier and Olivier Martin-Salvan as co-writers, brings to life the mundane yet strangely poetic existence of three neighbours living in tiny Parisian apartments side by side, just as life begins to happen to all of them at once. Watching the show feels like peering into a Barbie dollhouse or a Sims game, where one thing after another goes wrong and the smallest actions spiral into unexpected consequences.
The three performers (Guillois, L’Huillier and Martin-Salvan), who are also the creative minds behind the piece, bring their beautifully crafted clownish yet deeply realistic personas to the stage. The show poses quietly funny and recognisable questions: How does someone obsessively neat live next to a hoarder? What private habits do we carefully hide from our neighbours? From innocent cookie stealing to accidentally spilling blue floor cleaner into a fish bowl and pretending everything is fine, the details are absurd, exaggerated, and uncomfortably familiar.
Each of the three characters is sharply defined, bringing a distinct energy into the shared space, and it is precisely this contrast that becomes both the recipe for disaster and the source of the show’s magic. One is rigid, controlled and deeply attached to order; another is messy, inward-looking and emotionally porous. Between them moves a third presence, inventive, sensuous and instinct-driven. Her playful, confident unpredictability unsettles the careful balances the other two have built. Together, their differences spark friction, tenderness and chaos.
At its core, Fish Bowl reflects on connection, how we are all linked despite living in our own tiny, separate worlds. The show invites reflections on loneliness, choices, love and friendship, and on the quiet hardships of everyday life that shape and reshape relationships over time. These themes are explored with depth, yet always through humour, capturing the delicate balance between lightness and emotional weight. Love falls apart, friendships fracture, and somehow re-emerge through shared humanity. Because in the end, we are all just trying to do our best amid the daily madness.
The set design is one of the production’s greatest strengths (scenography by Laura Léonard, construction by Atelier JIPANCO and the technical team at Le Quartz, Scène nationale de Brest). Not because of spectacle or glamour, but because of how truthfully it depicts reality. The design fully immerses us in the cramped world of these tiny homes, serving both the comedy and the storytelling while allowing fluid movement across space and seamless shifts in time, weather and emotional states.
The performers’ physicality is excellent, with much of the comedy unfolding without a single word. Facial expressions, precise movement and clever use of props drive the storytelling and keep the audience engaged throughout. While a few sequences linger slightly longer than necessary and some gags feel mildly repetitive, these moments do not undermine the overall experience.
Overall, Fish Bowl is a heartfelt, inventive and highly entertaining piece of physical theatre, rich in detail, beautifully staged, and full of warmth and humanity. While it occasionally leans a little too heavily on repetition, it remains a thoughtful and amusing reflection on everyday life, connection, and the quiet chaos of coexisting with others.
BIGRE / “FISH BOWL”
Peacock Theatre
Reviewed on 28th January 2026
by Nasia Ntalla
Photography by Fabienne Rappeneau
