2026
The Smallest Things is a melancholic and humorous duo which constructs, without artifice, a performance from nothing before the audience’s eyes.
In this new creation, Marc Oosterhoff and Owen Winship perform on a bare theater stage. With them: a few objects, some stage lights, and a speaker to play sound. Little by little, they explore the possibilities offered by this minimalist environment.
From nothing, something emerges.
The two performers use what is at hand. By means of their acrobatic prowess and a few accessories, they gradually transform an empty space into a performance made up of small feats and a few words.
In this call to make do with what is available, the two performers manipulate the lights and sound from the stage itself, allowing the audience to witness all of the artifice that makes the spectacle. Spectators observe the setup of the various elements that compose a scene, all while preserving the potential to be moved by it emotionally. It is a sort of willing illusion in which they engage for the pleasure of the game.
This interplay between the intra-diegetic and the extra-diegetic allows the audience to understand how their emotions are guided from one state to another. This approach is undertaken in the spirit of honesty with the audience, who can consciously choose to be moved by the performance, equipped with the knowledge of how it has been created.
genesis
In 2020, following a series of fortuitous events, Owen and Marc collaborated in the creation of Lab Rats, an intimate duo performed in a terrarium. At that time, Owen and Marc barely knew each other. Owen joined the project at the very last minute to create a show which explores the meeting two strangers who must learn to interact and to live together in a small box.
Four years later, the show is still touring. They have developed a strong friendship, along with a craving to continue exploring together, pushing them to embark on the creation of this new show.
While Lab Rats was born of an encounter, The Smallest Things unfolds by the means of a relationship built on trust and an intimate understanding between two people. This piece explores how complicity and attentive listening can open up new horizons—and how one person can support another in daring endeavors, highlighting the beauty of the attempt over that of the success.
Credits
By and with : Owen Winship and Marc Oosterhoff
Outside eye : Nanda Suc
Technical direction : Leo Garcia
Lightning consultant : Joana Oliveira
Dramatury consultant : Eric Vautrin
Accessories : TBC
Costumes : TBC
Administration : Valérie Niederoest
Booking & production manager : Isabelle Campiche
production
Cie Moost
coproduction
Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne, Comédie de Genève, ADN Danse – Neuchâtel
residencies
Château de Monthelon, La Brèche, Cherbourg
tour
Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne, Comédie de Genève, Centre Culturel Suisse, ADN Danse – Neuchâtel,
Festival SPRING en Normandie (La Brèche à Cherbourg), Théâtre Les Halles, Sierre, Equilibre-Nuithonie, Fribourg
soutiens
Ville de Lausanne, Canton de Vaud
Photos Julien Mudry, Marc Oosterhoff, Owen Winship
