In his two new shows, Icons and Duckie, Le Gateau Chocolat invigorates his audience with the essence of what it means to be yourself, in a world that is forever compartmentalizing. Icons, says Gateau himself, is “a celebration of internationally renowned icons and iconic moments… celebrating that we all love and laugh and cry”.
With music at the heart of Gateau’s creations, the icons of the title are predominantly drawn from the 1980s, though you can expect references to stars as varied as Elvis Presley and Maya Angelou. He focuses on moments of laughter, joy and tears; a shared experience of humanity. Duckie, meanwhile, is a result of the shift in Gateau’s “digestion of morality, politics and of time” since the birth of his nieces. The show is cross-generational and hopes to plant seeds that parents have the option of watering. Seeds bearing fruit of understanding; that we are all different and it’s okay. To Gateau, the arts have huge potential to evolve humanity. The show is a metaphorical ladder: “At the bottom is entertainment and as you move up, you have distraction, education, representation and diversity.”
Gateau always puts forward a powerful message – “the way you are is enough”. Such wisdom hasn’t come without a price. Using drag as a protective mechanism from a young age, he describes how he “became a clown, gregarious… all to distract people from wanting to bully me”. Drag is more than dolling up in “cross gender attire… it’s part of everyone’s life”. Gateau believes we all engage in drag when we engage in different roles in life.
“I think my shows are political by nature,” Gateau says. “One of the most aggressively political things to do is to be yourself, especially when you’re not the norm.” Although drag continues to evolve, Gateau feels there is a danger of oversimplifying; just because you’ve seen one drag, doesn’t mean you’ve seen them all. And until you’ve seen Le Gateau Chocolat, you’ve definitely not seen them all. YASMIN GRANT / CLAUDIA CONGRAVE
Icons, Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay, Tue 18-Sat 22 Dec. Tickets: £12.
Duckie, Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay, Thurs 20-Sun 23 + Thurs 27-Mon 31 Dec. Tickets: £10.
Info: 029 2063 6464 / www.wmc.org.uk