His retrospective Showtime Jerome Bel 1994-2005 promises to present the very acme of Bel’s superbly original performances - ranging from group-hug disco dancing to the more subdued shirt-stripping Shirtology. But before you go jumping in to experience the gamut of Monsieur Bel’s philosophical physicality, allow him first to flex his pearly muscles of wisdom concerning all things entertainment, elephants and why you can’t kiss a movie…

On controversy…
“I had to piss on stage in the middle of a performance in Tel Aviv. Nobody noticed it because the stage was already invaded by a crowd of angry spectators.”

On breaking taboo…
"Art is a very useful tool to break rules with because art is only a representation. Art is out of the social world. That is why it is so exciting and powerful. So many taboos need to be broken. We are all so alienated; our freedom is so tiny; our way to think so narrow. It
is depressing."

Any refunds…
"Audiences often ask for their money back, but I don’t give them anything back. Sometimes I invite some of them for a drink at the bar and talk with them after the performance. Of course I ask myself why they complain but usually they are right - I mean they have perfectly understood what was going on. This is exactly what we don’t agree on, so I keep the piece the way it is! I don’t want to please the audience."

Jerome as an Elephant…
"I agree that theatre is dying. I feel like an elephant in a national park in Kenya. If the guards don’t protect me I will die. Sometimes I think that my work is a kind of funeral for theatre. Anyway it is always a question which precedes any idea of a new performance: what is left for theatre in this world of globalised entertainment? Where can theatre still be relevant and effective?"

“You can’t Kiss A Movie”
"I am totally convinced that art is mainly an intellectual experience. As Jean Luc Godard is saying: “I don't think you should feel about a film. You should feel about a woman, not a movie. You can't kiss a movie.” Feeling is useless in art. I think art should try to understand what emotion is, but emotion is not the goal of art."

On Samuel Beckett’s right arm…
"I am Beckett's number one fan. Beckett could be respected or not… I love Beckett because he is the first one who understood that to lift the left arm or the right arm is meaningful."

Showtime Jerome Bel 1994-2005, 1 - 16 Feb at Sadler’s Wells Theatre. Find out more here