Le Grand Soir Brings Multilingual Performance, Physical Theatre, and Queer Humor from Montreuil to London

©️Photograph by Jayen Shukla

The company 88 mètres/seconde is creating its first-ever international show: from Montreuil to London, Mille and Alissia are bringing multi-lingual performance, physical theatre, and communist jokes with a queer edge in Le Grand Soir. This production is made possible by the support the company receives from its community and its partners, in France and in the UK: Comme Vous Émoi, the Lambeth Fringe, and the Voilà Festival.

Interviewed by Jack Mace for Binge Fringe, Alissia and Mille stated: “We truly believe that one of the things we need today and that performance shows can bring to us is this sense of community, of belonging despite apparent differences: that is why we started working on Le Grand Soir.”

About 88 MÈTRES/SECONDE: 88 mètres/seconde is a queer, dance-theatre company based in Montreuil, France. Co-directed by Mille Zhong and Jeanni Dura, with artistic collaborators Alissia Pervozvanski-Dangles and Dorine Jarrige, the company creates multi-disciplinary shows, focused on lesbian narratives, contemporary political issues, and healing processes, with an engagement towards global majority and neuro-divergent-led stories, casts, and creatives.

Creative Team

Writer & Performer: Alissia Pervozvanski-Dangles
Writer & Performer, Producer: Mille Zhong
Lighting Designer: Lantukh (L)

“我要飞得更高” – Wang Feng 汪峰

“Poждённый в СССР” – ДДТ

“Ce soir c'est le grand soir, mets du fard sur tes idées pâles” – Mozart l'opéra rock

“We don’t need to be related to relate, we don’t need to share genes or a surname, you are my chosen family”
– Elton John&Rina Sawayama

©️Photograph by Jayen Shukla

“My Dad would kill me if he knew I was on a lesbian parody of a Communist propaganda poster. Would he be right?”

Mille and Alissia have a lot in common: lesbianism, Dads who live in former Communist-turned-Capitalist-Dictatorship countries thousands of kilometres away, and an obsession with colour-sorted apps on their phones. In this Sino-Russian version of Les Misérables meets Never Have I Ever, they invite you to a vibrant, biting and sincere celebration of daddy issues, queer friendships, Communist history... and multilingual forgiveness. Expect some physical theatre, singing rituals, Russian pickles, Chinese jokes, and dramatic Power Points, as they explore their relationships with each other, their Dads, and politics. Ready for the ride?

Le Grand Soir is a razor-sharp performance show about family, identity, and what we choose to forgive (or not). After two successful work in progress showcases at Theatre Deli as part of the Shift+Space programme in April 2025, and a packed preview at The Glitch as part of the Lambeth Fringe in October 2025, where the show was short listed for the Glitch Awards, Mille and Alissia invite you to the premiere of Le Grand Soir at The Etcetera Theatre, as part of the Voilà! Theatre Festival.

“When we had the first ideas and excitement around Le Grand Soir, we thought: they’ll never let us do that in France now. So, thanks to Mille’s connections with the drag scene and a bit of the theatre scene in London (which is an entirely different story, that starts with a Welsh boy and a Chinese drag king), we said to ourselves ‘you know what, fuck it, let’s write it in English, French, Mandarin Chinese, Russian, let’s break genre barriers like the shows we love in the UK, let’s do it in the UK’.” - Binge Fringe

Ticket Information:

Venue: Above the Oxford Arms, The Etcetera Theatre, Voilà Festival
Dates: 8 November, 3 pm; 9 November, 1 pm
Time: 60 mins
Ticket Prices: £15 / £10 concessions
Suitable for: Age 18+

For more information, please visit: https://www.voilafestival.co.uk/events/le-grand-soir/