‘COLETTE'S RELATIONSHIPS
WERE REALISED IN A VERY OPEN, BOHEMIAN TIME'
149nm: Caddml in PM at the: Traverse: lhttaTlt:
A secret history
Writer/performer Yvonne Caddell talks to Sandra Marron about her new play based on the scandalous life and work of French novelist Colette
lasgay! 2007. Scotland‘s annual celebration of" queer culture. features four exciting weeks of
new contemporary boutique theatre from emerging artists at the new studio space at the Q! (iallery.
()pening this mini-season is a new play written and performed by Yvonne ('addell about the iconic Parisian writer. thrice married author. scandalous lesbian and subject of great controversy Sidonie- (iabrielle (‘olette
(ilasgayl producer Steven Thomson commissioned the work. entitled ('olette: The Secret Scenes. alter seeing (‘addell pet‘itn‘rtt a short excerpt at the Arches‘ Scratch night last year. (‘addell lirst stumbled upon her subject in a London bookshop in l‘)‘)‘). She had been looking for someone to write about and hoping to find a subject that she could relate to or be interested in. and there. beckoning her from the display table was the new hardback book Colette: Secrets of the Flesh by Judith 'l‘hurman. The front cover. which featured a ‘lovely. soulful, wistful picture of (‘olette just lacing out at me‘. is what prompted her to pick up the non-liction work. which is filled with (‘olette‘s letters of correspondence to her friends and to lovers.
Through these writings and subsequent research Caddell became interested in (‘olette's relationships. particularly her troubled relationship with her mother. which is explored in the play.
“A lot of who Colette is — and she will say this herself
— actually points back to her mother and her mother's influence.‘ says Caddell. ‘You could say that to know Colette you have to get to know her mother. Sido. A lot
of (‘olette‘s relationships. you could say were born or
realised in a very promiscuous. very open. bohemian time. What I think is rooted in (‘olette. in her work. in her view of life. in her soul and in whom she eventually wants to be like. is this mother ligure.‘
(‘olette was married to charismatic Parisian wit Henri (iautltier-Villars aka ‘Willy' and it was he who introduced (‘olette to the aristocratic music hall star and Paris‘ most l‘amous and most talked-about lesbian ol' the time. the Marquise [)e Mornay or ‘Missy' as she was known. Missy bel‘riended (‘olette and the two ended up having an affair. prompting (‘olette to divorce Willy and move in with her new paramour. which was nothing short ol‘ scandalous l‘or the time.
More fuel was added to the lire when Missy and (‘olette appeared together in a pantomime. (‘olette played a Mummy and Missy an archaeologist who discovers and unwraps her. The lovers‘ onstage kiss sent further shockwaves throughout Paris.
The couple lived together for six years. ‘lt's almost like their relationship was quite maternal.‘ says ('addell. 'When (‘olette is writing about homosexuality she can sometimes refer to the union of two women as "a maternal adoption". In her relationships she would say that. the seduction emanating from a person of uncertain sex is powerful. I liken it to a maternal adoption.‘ she says. In essence Missy is the embodiment of Colette's longing to love and touch her mother Sido. and these intertwining themes and relationships are at the heart ot~ Caddell‘s play.
Colette: The Secrets of The Flesh, Studio at 0! Gallery, Glasgow, Tue 16-Sat 20 Oct.
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* Colette: The Secret Scenes A new play written and performed by Yvonne Caddell, based on the extraordinary life of the French author Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette. Expect an insight into the sensual, secretive world of 19th century Paris and a world of bohemian adventures plus the love of a mother that never dies. 0! Gallery, Glasgow, Tue 16—Sat 20 Oct.
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