No glamour. No gimmicks. No pretence. Nothing but a voice, singing of life’s triumphs and tragedies Christine Bovill’s PIAF, as much a play as it is a musical homage, is a moving theatrical homage to one of France’s most endearing icons; celebrating some of her best known songs, threaded with Piaf’s story, and Christine’s own remarkable journey in the world of chanson.
Who was Edith Piaf? And how did she come to represent the spirit of Paris like no-one before or since? Her life is as well documented as her legendary voice - a child of the Paris streets who rose, via a tragic life of drink, drugs and death at 48, to become the best-known chanteuse in America and throughout the world. She lived the passionate life of a “monster sacre”: loving, laughing, crying, drinking, taking and giving to excess. There were no half-measures.
An award-winning songwriter in her own right, and recipient of Spirit of the Fringe, Bovill has toured throughout Europe and the Far East with her self-penned homage to the Little Sparrow, appearing on BBC Newsnight and on BBC Radio 4’s series, Soul Music.
Despite the sorrow of Piaf’s story, this is an evening of celebration – a tale of human triumph over tragedy; and, at its heart, a unique performance by a woman widely regarded as one of the finest interpreters of French Song
Running time: 75 minutes.
.jpg)