CALLIGRAPHONICS

A song/theatre performance drawing on experiences of French writer Colette (1873-1954) as a music critic in Paris at the turn of the twentieth century.

Mixing English and French spoken and sung text as well as incorporating samples of Colette’s own voice, the piece explores the familiar relationship between performers / performance / audience through songs, dance-theatre ‘tableaux’ and sound-images.

Prologue:
In 1903, on her way to becoming a touring mime-artist, and shortly before her long and passionate lesbian affair with la Marquise de Belboeuf (Missy), novelist Colette plays the part of a chronicler under the name Claudine, a character of her own creation who revealed her as a successful and talented writer.

The story:
But who gets truly exposed? The critic through the reviews? The artist through the performance? The composer through the performer? Or the audience? The first decade of the 1900’s surprisingly echoes the creative maelstrom of the late 1990’s: a mirrored image of happening London via colourful Paris.

Read an extract from the play

Credits:
Text written & adapted from Colette’s articles by Véronique 'Orange' Joly
Dance & choreography by Jane Turner
Songs by Orange, Cathryn V. Robson & Lucie Robson
Piano music by Didier Lustig
Photographs by Patricia Curtis

Performed at:
- Union Chapel, Islington, London, 1998
- Battersea Arts Centre, Wandsworth Arts Festival, London, 1999

Should you share an interest in Colette and wish to exchange or discuss some information, please e-mail L'Orange at info@orangegardens.com.