›L'Effet de Serge‹ somehow communicates the essence of theater itself. It demonstrates how the simplest object, the merest gesture, can produce wonder. The Village Voice Every Sunday Serge, a lonely oddball, invites friends round to his flat to show them his peculiar special-effects shows: ›Rolling Effect on Music by Handel‹, ›Laser Effect on Music by John Cage‹ and ›Light Effect on Music by Wagner‹. The guests acknowledge these glorious yet unspectacular little moments with sympathetic if slightly awkward embarrassment. Theatre, performance and the fine arts come together in a congenial alliance in internationally-celebrated director Philippe Quesne’s work. He not only exposes theatre as theatre, he also unmasks the great human quests that are destined to fail: understanding nature, making art, saving the world.