Le Gateau Chocolat – Live Art Alive

Created by Le Gateau Chocolat, Rachel Bagshaw and Seiriol Davies

Directed by Rachel Bagshaw

HOME MCR

Most of us grow up absorbing Fairy stories throughout our childhoods whether in books, Disney movies or Pantomimes. How many of us have ever wondered what happens after the final dénouement and those fateful words And They All Lived Happy Ever After…? Thankfully Le Gateau Chocolat has gone above and beyond for all us curious adults and wide eyed children and unleashed his inner Fairy Godmother. The suitably fabulous and glittery Effie is about to celebrate her brumble thrillionth wish and seems confident that all her work has been of a high calibre until her bubble suddenly pops.

Colourful and vibrant, the costumes look like Effy has raided the dressing up box via a crash course prepping for Rupaul’s Drag Race and a trolley dash through a sequin factory. The costumes and set design by Ryan Dawson Laight has a frothy, magical quality with a backdrop that allows for plenty of costume changes as Le Gateau Chocolat speedily recreates characters that allude to Cinderella, Peter Pan and Snow White. There is loads of audience interaction allowing children to get up close to the fabulous costumes and really connect with the magic that is happening on stage.

The voice over Narrator is Julian Clary whose calm but quizzical tone is an excellent foil for Effies exuberant confidence. The ensuing exchanges start to deconstruct these famous fables and discover some troubling issues. In this quirky production the audience and Effie consider how it really was for a Peter Pan character to never grow up but just watch from afar as their loved ones live, love and thrive without him. What if the fairy Godmother gave a young girl the opportunity of a lifetime but then left her to make her way up the steps to the castle ball without checking if she needed wheelchair access? Or could making someone incredibly beautiful potentially cause them to become a raging narcissist? Effie scores big when it comes to heart and eyelashes but may need to reconsider her health and safety policy. Thankfully Effie has an (eff)iphany and suggests to her young audience that we are all better together when it comes to making our wishes come true.

The music and lyrics by Seiriol Davies are witty and delightful, covering a range of styles and allowing Le Gateau Chocolat to showcase his rich baritone voice to full effect. This is a charming piece of theatre designed for young children and it’s message of the benefits of cooperation and inclusion is definitely on point. This sweet production has all the heart one would expect from Le Gateau Chocolat and it is great to see this fabulous performer back on stage after a serious illness earlier this year. Having seen DUCKIE at CONTACT and now I WISH, it’s good to be reminded of the importance of making theatre for young children that is relevant and memorable.

I WISH at HOME MCR

CONTACT
Writer/ Performer – Le Chocolat Gateau
Produced/Developed – In Company Collective
There are moments when I wish I could rewind time with my children and go back to when they were very young. Today was such a day, watching the gorgeous DUCKIE I wished my teenage darlings were ten years younger and there in the audience with me. This show is a wonderfully deft merging of cabaret, children’s theatre, fairy tale reimagining and a big dollop of old Hollywood magic.
Cabaret performer and Opera singer Le Gateau Chocolat takes the much loved tale of The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Anderson and goes to the circus to seek out soulmates for this lonely misfit, the runt of the litter. To the delight of the child in all of us, the mischievious performer portrays a duck who cannot quack but belches instead. His lonely duckie can’t quack or dance, he is too small to be a muscleman and too big, too yellow, too tall…… DUCKIE would seem to be a duck who is seriously down on his luck.
The voiceover which speaks to DUCKIE and at times the audience is soothing and reassuring- a bit like having Judy Dench voicing your bedtime story. The rest is simply the gorgeous baritone voice of Le Gateau Chocolat which is like having your senses bathed in warm chocolate fondant. The songs often tweaked to fit the story range from Disney classics through to The Pussycat Dolls Don’t cha and La Cage Aux Folles I am what I am to Cyndi Laupers Girls just want to have fun.
Visually the set is deceptively simple but with dressing up clothes tucked away and bright umbrellas popping out it holds gems of surprise. The lighting design is magical and reminds me of the country village circus tours of my childhood. Throughout his costume changes there is always the fluid physicality, warmly, gleaming eyes and glittery lips. This is a performer who is totally at ease with his audience, both young and simply young at heart. It would be hard not to be drawn into DUCKIE’S world and empathise with his plight.
When the insults come increasingly thick and fast and the voicing of them sounds more and more like children the true dark background to the story shines through. DUCKIE is rendered small, wounded and vulnerable as he looks out in confusion at a world that will not let him belong. His salvation through a beautifully rendered little mouse is touching and ensures a fairytale happy ending. We shun or ridicule what is “ugly” not because it’s ugly but simply because it is different. DUCKIE delivers a message of acceptance and tolerance that resonates with adults and sews a seed in young children that hopefully blossoms in every new generation.
CONTACT 24-25 OCTOBER