PERFORMANCES /////
Useful Knowledge to Know (2010-2007)
solo performance devised in collaboration with Chris Eley
The piece is now ready to tour for 2010 / 2011; to get in touch please go to the contact page.
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“ To whom does the lamp communicate? The mountain? The fox?” Walter Benjamin
French performer and lecturer Chloé Déchery gives a series of lectures about stuff you, British and English people, should know.
She has a number of tools to help her get her points across including a chair and a table, 2 flowers and a video projector.
When does a lecture become a performance?
How does a performance turn into a chaotic disaster?
Blurring the lines between lecture and performance, this is a humorous and quirky show that breaks down into a poignant tale of solitude.
The idea of this project is to play around the notions of language – foreign language, non-verbal language, sign language, etc – within an interactive process, in questioning the values of communication and the complex act of imparting information.
The performance takes the shape of a series of micro-lectures where the performer is both supported and undermined by video and multimedia accompaniment. A number of random subjects appear briefly as the topics of these lectures before devolving into random choreography. The tone is both comical and straightforward, in turn moving and cheeky, authentic and playful.
The result is a 50 minutes-long performance; which deals directly with the idea of communication itself; how we present ourselves in a public forum, how we pass on ideas and how we can initiate dialogue with others.
Credits
Devised and written by Chloé Déchery and Chris Eley
Performer: Chloé Déchery
Choreographer: Pia Nordin
Lighting design: Martin Langthorne
Mentoring from Rajni Shah and Elyssa Livergant
Running time: 50 minutes
Credits for the French version of the show: Olivier Normand (choreography adviser), Anthony Marlier (lightings), Vashi Ramessur (assistant).
The piece was first shown as a scratch performance at the Burton Taylor Studio in Oxford, the Cube in Bristol, the Madcap in Milton Keynes, Arnolfini in Bristol and the Camden People’s Theatre (Scene Pool ; Sprint Festival) in London.
Dates & Theatres
The project has received support from the Arts Council of England and has been touring in Autumn 2009 at the Burton Taylor Studio in Oxford, the Nightingale in Brighton, the CPT in London and the Aberystwyth Arts Centre in Wales. The show was also recently presented in a French version at Le Colombier, in Bagnolet, France, on the 30rd and 31st of January 2010.
Feedback
« Passionate and thoughtful about Chloé’s work, I was impressed by her performance ‘Useful Knowledge to Know’ at the Camden People’s Theatre. In turn humorous, ironic and poignant, it was created and performed with a decisive wit making innovative and clear comments about the linguistic misunderstandings that can wreak unintentional havoc on people’s lives with a subtle underlying theme of cross channel relationships both personal and political. I thought it was intelligent, witty and also moving. »
Geraldine Pilgrim, corridor performance
“I was impressed by the simplicity, humour and intelligence of the piece, which struck a chord with the audience.“
Matt Ball, director of the Camden People’s Theatre.
« I really enjoyed the show – and more. It made my mind go to all sorts of interesting places.” 
Bobby Baker
The show is due to tour in the USA (Minneapolis; New York) for Autumn 2010.
Marie (2010-2008)
solo performance devised in collaboration with Elyssa Livergant
A solo piece about a daughter and a mother, investigating what it means to have the same blood (and feet).
“Using my own body as a map, alongside various everyday objects, I’ll reveal a family history that unravels through generations – a complicated process of transmission, involving much joy, humour, truth, secrets and lies.
Shameful anecdotes, family mannerisms, annoying habits, genetic flaws: everything will be explored, laid out and shared with the audience on a breakfast table.”
Credits
Text and performance by Chloé Déchery, in collaboration with Elyssa Livergant
The piece was first shown as a work-in-progress at Oval House, London, July 2009, and then at Forest Fringe in Edinburgh in August and the Corn Exchange in Newbury in October 2009.
This piece has been developed through a DIY5 workshop led by Curious and through Balloon, a peer-support and artist-led group facilitated group facilitated by Artsadmin and Oval House.
Current running time: 20 minutes (prologue) + 40 minutes (second and main part)
Feedback
I think Chloé’s work is quite unique. It manages to combine real charm and accessibility with depth and serious enquiry. I personally feel that humour is very important and look for it in new work. Chloé’s work has this in spades – real wit, humour and warmth – qualities that are often lacking in serious new work. As a promoter wanting to find ways of reaching audiences that is a gift.
Nick Giles, Artistic director from the Corn Exchange, Newbury.
I really enjoyed your piece, it was both tender and engaging – you have a really lovely relationship with the audience.
Ed Collier, producer and co-director of China Plate
The piece, mixing storytelling with strong images and a sharp gestural choreography, operates effectively on several levels – cleverly crafted yet simple, engaging and humorous. I think Chloé Déchery is a naturally warm communicator, with a good eye for the absurd as well as the intellectually intriguing.
Nikki Tomlinson, Artsadmin’s artists’ advisor and producer
The show is ready to tour.
Showing up (2009)
devised and performed in collaboration with Lucy Foster
A series of site-specific short performances devised for the Sprint festival in collaboration with Lucy Foster, Camden People’s Theatre, London, June 2009.
One theatre. Two artists. Four nights. Four different situations. Four performances.
Showing up is a series of short performances bringing traditionally non-theatrical settings into the theatre. These include a launch party, a guided tour of the venue, a post-event press conference and a lecture about the art of bowing in a theatre. By playfully looking for theatre in these different formats, she investigates the very core of the theatrical event.
Credits
Devised, written and performed by Chloé Déchery and Lucy Foster
This is a series of works in the early stages of development. They have been tailored especially for the site of the Camden People’s Theatre and the context of the Sprint festival.
Each performance is designed to be seen independently or as part of a series of four.
With support from the Camden People’s Theatre.
C’est beau (2009)
solo performance
“In the manner of a home-shopping TV show, I will present, comment and recommend a selection of random pink objects, all worth less than 1£ each, without ever pronouncing the word “kitsch”.”
Credits
Written and performed by Chloé Déchery
A lecture-demonstration about kitsch, for the symposium « Kitsch et Arts scéniques », led by Marie Pecorari and Isablle Barberis, Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art, Paris, June 2009.
After/ before (2008)
solo performance
After / Before is a 20 minutes-long performance that is set in two different parts and plays around with the unfolding of a performance that has already happened / will certainly happen but that the audience does not witness.
The first part is dedicated to what has happened and the sense of both elusion and deception that come after a performance. The applause, the bow, the greetings, the chit-chat with the audience, the feedback, the memories, the nostalgia, the feeling it could have been better, the feeling it didn’t go that well, the feeling it is too late already.
It is written in the present but there is a sense of irreversible loss attached to it.
A short interruption follows. Everyone stays seated for a while. Silent. In the dark.
The second part is then dedicated to what is going to happen, the building up, the getting-ready process, the preparation, the excitement, the fear, the hope and enthusiasm. Everything is written in the present but aiming to a future full of possibilities.
The piece is about toying with the expectations of the audience and causing a certain deflagration, leading to disappointment and discomfort. This sort of “anti-entertainment” approach is nevertheless comical and tries to never take itself too seriously.
Credits
Written and performed by Chloé Déchery
With the help of a rented chicken suit.
Scene Pool, CPT. November 2008.
Loser (2008)
solo performance
A mock post match-press conference.
“Through the format of a mock post-match press conference, I would like to investigate the common features that exist between sports, art and life.
If, in sports, it’s all about being number one, then how would we be supposed to assess our existence if we had to think in terms of winning and loosing?
Is being a loser such a bad thing?
Interestingly, even if what counts in sports is a successful outcome, it seems it is always more interesting to hear about stories of delusion, self-deception and dramatic failure. “
Credits
Written and performed by Chloé Déchery
With assistance from Chris Eley
Scratch festival, BAC. September 2008.
Not to perform (2008)
devised and performed in collaboration with Chris Eley and Lucy Foster
Lucy and Chloé (two performers who will try not to perform) and Chris (one non-performer who will try to perform) say:
“Through a playful investigation of movement, sound and spoken word we will look at what it means to do something and to be seen doing it. We will experience how thin the line is between showing and showing off.”
Credits
A collaboration between Chloé Déchery, Chris Eley and Lucy Foster
Keeping it live festival curated by Holly Darton, Hertford. May 2008.
Saint Pancras – Gare du Nord (2008)
solo performance
“Tonight, I will present an investigation about what it means to be in-between.
I will explore what it means to pass by unnoticed spaces.
We’ll go on a journey and we’ll get lost on the way.
Embark on a train journey from London to Paris, a geographical and imaginary travel crossing uncertain spaces, opening up unknown territories.
The train’s coach and corridor, rural landscapes and mental space converge through a bilingual Franco English commentary both absurd and poetic.”
What is Peachy Coochy? The projector projects 20 images for precisely 20 seconds each. The coocheur (or Presenter) speaks for precisely twenty seconds per image. Randomness is discouraged but narrative linearity is not automatically esteemed.
Written and performed by Chloé Déchery
A 6 minutes and 60 seconds – long lecture-performance, presented at a Peachy Coochy Nite, curated by David Gale.
Toynbee Studios, April 2008.
Her in the Red Dress (2006)
devised and performed in collaboration with Kyla Davies
“My girl,
Bad news. I’m sorry about this. I think we have nothing to do together anymore. I’m getting bored, It’s over, now. I must say that’s a relief for me to say it out loud, it’s not that frequent. I think I will enjoy myself much better with other people in other places. I hope you will get this, and accept it. But if not, never mind, it doesn’t change anything anyway. Goodbye.”
It all starts with a rather unpleasant text message and from there unfolds a day in the city, a journey made of chases in the underground, umbrella-fights, anonymous phone calls, cabaret songs and hard core partying.
Credits
A visual and physical show devised and performed by Chloé Déchery and Kyla Davies.
With the collaboration of Nicolas Doutey for the writing of the script.
CPT, June 2006.