There will be classical music, sung in Italian, which no-one will understand; there will be white flowers, lilies perhaps; and when she caresses this chair, we will know that the performance will end…

Chloé is French, a lecturer, not a dancer. This mantra is repeated throughout her lecture-performance, Useful Knowledge to Know, an exploration of the tripwires of communication. Using spoken language (English and French), movement, film, recorded sound, and a kind of theatre-of-objects – in which the placing of the vase of lilies on the table, or the moving of a chair, creates a constantly evolving still life – Déchery and her offstage collaborator, the documentary film-maker Chris Eley, have made a very pleasing and thought-provoking piece of contemporary theatre.

At the heart of the piece is an investigation into how we communicate: how we ‘read’ what we hear and see; how everyone speaks and uses different languages; and how this continuous negotiation of understanding and misunderstanding is multiplied when we come from different cultures, with different ‘mother tongues’. What fascinates Déchery most are the near-misses, when two words or actions are so similar that we think we understand, but have miscommunicated. Take the word ‘lecture’ for a start: in English, giving words in a talk; in French, receiving words, on the page – reading.

In many ways this piece is typical of much work doing the live art circuit at the moment – solo performer (female) using the self as the source, mixing and matching a toolbox of performance tricks (projection, choreography, performative objects etc). What distinguishes this piece is the confidence and skill of this theatre-trained performer – in contrast to many people presenting this sort of work, Déchery has what it takes to carry the audience through the journey, and to engage them in her story.