The grandeur of Le Gateau Chocolat, Nigerian born singer and cabaret artist, is back on the London stage. Be prepared to be surprised though: his new show Black marks a departure from his previous work and promises to be an intimate journey into the person behind the persona, a discovery of his struggles and dreams framed by an eclectic soundtrack that provides space for both Wagner and Whitney Huston. Opening this Monday and staying at the Soho Theatre until the 24^th of May, Black is perhaps best introduced by an invitation to stop and ponder all the connotations jumping out from its simple but explosive name. Going beyond the obvious talking points, the allure of the soul behind the mask and the stigma surrounding depression were all important in the creation of Black; Run-Riot sat down with Le Gateau Chocolat to find out more.

Run-Riot: Black is a distinctly different show compared to your previous ones – the emphasis is on personal experiences with far less glitter involved. What brought about this change?  

Le Gateau Chocolat: My work has always had an autobiographical element.  We’ve just dared to push the envelope further than we have done in the past, which has been an interesting and slightly unnerving process. 

Run-Riot: You mentioned that in Black you wanted to explore the ‘humanity of the performer’. What’s the relationship between the person and the persona? Why was it important to you to de-shell in such a way for the audiences?

Le Gateau Chocolat: One of my primary aims with this piece was to try and transcend the obvious talking points, my colour, my size, my sexuality, my lycra wearing antics, and highlight the truth; that before all of those elements that some might consider outlandish and a point of difference, I’m a person first, with the same aspirations; to be loved, to laugh, the right to live persecution free, to dream and find the means to achieving dreams. 

It could be very easy, in this medium of theatre, to not see the person, but only what some might consider the caricature, the façade. The soul behind the mask, the person, has always been a great interest to me, in my work and in the work of others. 

Run-Riot: Cabaret and drag performances often feature (faux) autobiographical tones, where the reality and the put-on are as difficult to distinguish as the person and the persona; Black is made out of your experiences alone, confessional and intimate. Are you playing with the genre you are known for?

Le Gateau Chocolat: With the help of my director and co-creator we’ve devised a means of delivering the autobiographical element more theatrically than perhaps I have done in the past; my life in fairytale where I do very little speaking. It was interesting to adjust as cabaret’s soul lies in the ability of the performer to connect with the audience and I’ve always done that through song and spoken word. Having the latter redirected was a challenge but a wonderful discovery. 

Run-Riot: It strikes me as interesting that you seem to have had the title of the show pinned down very early in the devising process. How does this simple but poignant word full of connotations reflect on the show?

Le Gateau Chocolat: I’ve always been ‘Black', even growing up in Nigeria. That may seem weird but for me the word has come to mean being the outsider and I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t. The show explores other memes of black: black dog, black and blue, black music, black sheep. It was of the utmost importance that the show explored the idea that at some point in our lives, regardless of your colour, you would’ve had a ‘black’ experience. 

Run-Riot: One of the topics you deal with in Black is your battle with depression. Do you think stigma remains attached to it - even within the liberal world of performance and cabaret? Does having to put on a show – literally, as a profession – add a different dimension to depression? 

Le Gateau Chocolat: Hm, imagine lights suddenly going out and with them taking your drive, your lust for life, your ability to socialise, your appetite… A darkness that has a profound effect not only on your vision but your entire being. At my worst, I felt like I had lead in my veins. I lay in bed for days on end finding it a real struggle to even turn over. Crippling. 

Being a performer, for me, is a double-edged sword. It has been known to assuage my condition or exacerbate it. Assuage because, in the depths of darkness, I’m literally sometimes contractually forced to put on a face and perform. This forces me into a brightly lit room which I can cope with at the time, but then returning to my reality, no stage lights, no make up, no adulation, no performance, the darkness now seems aggressively all consuming. Exacerbated. 

Stigma pertaining to this condition is prevalent. There’s always been a ‘stiff upper lip’ approach to depression. And comparing it to what some might deem real, tangible problems leaves one with the feeling of it not being worthy of discussion. There’s an inherent shame that I experienced. This coupled with the lack of understanding people had or the offered resolution of ‘cheer up’ or ‘what’s wrong?’ - not having an answer to this made them frustrated and me in return retreat further making this a very dangerous condition. I’ve lost friends to the ultimate darkness - friends who’ve lost the will to continue fighting and that’s what’s terrifying, a real, unfortunate consequence for anyone with the condition. My love and loss of them also inspired me to start to talk openly about it, which is still difficult to do. 

Run-Riot: Aside from being a stylistic departure from your previous work, Black was also developed in a slightly different way, with the creative team present from the get-go, rather than you writing a show before including others in the process. What made you choose a different creative path and how did it influence the show?

Le Gateau Chocolat: I’ve never been lucky enough to have the financial or creative resources to afford myself the luxury of writing with that safety net. Black was however brewing for a long time, which afforded me the opportunity to explore a different creative path, one that has yielded a piece that I couldn’t be certain to have been able to create myself; the marriage of different creative minds that I trust. 

Run-Riot: You worked with Ed Burnside before - did your relationship have a different quality this time around, given the personal and autobiographical nature of Black? 

Le Gateau Chocolat: It certainly did because Ed was part of the bedrock in the creation process. We pooled our resources together and assembled the creative team. He also conducted deeply personal interviews with me, some of which are contained in the show and a lot of which shaped the writing of it. The piece is what it has become because the only way he could have facilitated those candid answers is from the level of trust we have when we’re not working. He’s my friend first, which meant my trust of and in him was the very reason we were able to create a work of such naked honesty. 

Run-Riot: Black features an eclectic repertoire of opera and pop tunes alike. How did you go about selecting the music for the performance? 

Le Gateau Chocolat: These songs are the soundtrack to my life, making it easier to access their emotional potential. Classical music and opera have always been a massive love but I’ve never fully tackled the genre in my work and so I made the decision to include more here. The show’s repertoire range from Wagner, Gershwin, Purcell, Bernstein to Nina Simone and Whitney Houston and some original music; a rather taxing combination to perform nightly, but a challenge that I relish as I absolutely adore this repertoire. 

Black

Soho Theatre

12^th-24^th May