Physical Comedy Hit Fish Bowl Heads to West End

After a rave Edinburgh Festival Fringe run and subsequent tour, Molière Award winnerFish Bowl, from Compagnie le Fils du Grand Réseau, makes its West End debut in January 2026 at Sadler’s Wells Peacock Theatre. Created by the company’s Artistic Director, the renowned French actor Pierre Guillois, in collaboration with Olivier Martin-Salvan, co-creator of their Fringe hitThe Ice Hole – A Cardboard Comedy, this Grand-Guignolesque production brings its farcical antics and physical comedy extravaganza back to a UK audience as part of MimeLondon. The production expertly blends comedy and theatre, with one disaster following another in a deluge of laugh-out-loud moments. Packed with chaos from wacky anti-heroes,Fish Bowl is as endearing as it is hilarious in this silent comedy extravaganza. 

Barely separated by paper-thin walls, three odd-ball neighbours, each with a special talent that makes them uniquely prone to unfortunate mishaps, engage in unlikely and moving friendships. An accident-prone hoarder, a karaoke-loving gadget geek and an inept career junkie cause complete chaos onstage. Amidst all the drama of fires, leaks, storms and unexpected accidents amounting to laughter-inducing disarray, moments of love, life and hope are shared between the quirky trio.  Thiswildly inventive French comedy(The Times) is beloved by both British and French audiences for its captivating and absolutely absurd energy, evoking laughter and tears.

Writer, director and actor, Pierre Guillois comments, The most fascinating aspect of this creation was the decision to take away the actors’ words. From this absence of speech, the show was built, relying on the imagination the actress and two actors were compelled to develop. The characters are not mute; we simply see them at moments when they are not speaking, either because they are alone or because their difficulty in communicating prevents them from expressing even the simplest things, leading them to choose silence.

In this way, the play reveals strong human stakes, centred on modest lives with grand dreams. Through hesitations, pauses and fragmented expressions, the audience discovers stories of wounded pasts, hopes, insecurities and unshakeable strength. We see the characters’ inner conflicts and choices, and gradually come to understand their full complexity, which is why the performance can move the audience from laughter to emotion in a single moment.

Inspired by the infamous Parisian Theatre, Grand-Guignol,Fish Bowl is reminiscent of the theatre’s signature realism-style, known for its unique productions that use special effects and stage trickery to explore everyday life. The show beautifully investigates humanity, loneliness and modern city living through the lives of its eccentric and loveable anti-heroes. Fans of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Mr Bean will delight in this punchy modern physical comedy, set inside an eye-catching set furnished with ingenious magical devices, tricks and surprises that shock and delight.

Previous praise forFish Bowl:

Wildly inventive French comedy–★★★★ The Times

wordless French farce gives a wacky view from the top–★★★★ The Guardian

a perfectly-pitched piece of physical character comedy–★★★★ The Scotsman

Main Image: Courtesy of Fish Bowl

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