Active from the 1st of May to the 18th of October 1986 as part of the Swiss national exposition in Geneva, the shadow theatre of Sapajou scheduled a dozen shadow plays, very similar to the Parisian shows of the Chat Noir cabaret (1885-1896). Nevertheless, the artists who partook in it (painters, musicians, poets) were anxious to bring a national touch to their repertoire and to take on a singular critical positioning, notably through their weekly magazine Le Sapajou. Struck with nostalgia for the “children’s games” of the primitive monkeys, their discourse mocks the ambient Darwinism: “the capuchin monkeys-of-the-end-of-the-century […] have better things to do; the necessities of existence and the “struggle for life” impose social duties to them, and force them to choose a career”. During the theatre’s daily performances, the pianist Gustave Ferrari would play the accompaniment and H. Bertilliot would do the barking. The composer and teacher Emile Jacques-Dalcroze, often present during the gala receptions, sometimes improvised a tune on the piano.

Recette (Recipe), a short sung interlude, was scheduled at the Sapajou for three months. From a song by Emile Jacques-Dalcroze, in which he mocked political rhetoric, painter Hippolyte Coutau created a micro-sequence for shadows, for which he also made the silhouettes.

In the canteen of a federal shooting society, a speaker stands on a platform. The assembly applauds him right after he utters, with a booming voice, the word “Confederation”. The speaker raises his glass and drinks to the success of his “recipe” for a political speech.