Charlie Chaplin's granddaughter stars in "Aurélia's Oratorio" circus-theater piece at Seattle Rep

It is one thing to love and cherish your mother. It is another to have her direct you in a solo theater piece.

That is true, even when your mother is Victoria Thierrée Chaplin — herself a performer and co-founder of several European circus troupes, as well as the daughter of film legend Charlie Chaplin.

"It was really fascinating to work with my mother," says Aurélia Thierrée, whose show, "Aurélia's Oratorio," comes next week to Seattle Repertory Theatre, as a presentation of the Seattle International Children's Festival.

"Suddenly, there's a common desire that becomes more important than anything else. It's corny, but I really love my mother's work. If another director told me we'll begin the show with you in a chest of drawers, and end with a train going over your stomach, I would have said no!"

While Thierrée gives a sunny account of their collaboration by phone from California, Chaplin offers a slightly different story from France — where she has settled with husband and fellow actor-director Jean-Baptiste Thierrée (Aurélia's dad).

"It was the worst and the best working together," admits Chaplin. "We had some terrible fights, of course."

But both agree their time in a studio — creating the show's surreal blend of theatrical illusion, circus acrobatics and black comedy — was well worth a little family friction.

"Aurélia's Oratorio" has won high praise in Europe and the U.S., with London's Guardian newspaper calling Thierrée "an elegant waif with impossibly flexible limbs and a great line in sleight of hand. She does wonder wonderfully." Others have compared the show to Edward Gorey tales and the films of Tim Burton.

Now in her 20s, Thierrée learned such skills partly by osmosis. Her celebrated grandfather, who started out as an acrobat in English variety halls, died before she was born. But, Thierrée says, "like with every great artist and genius, you do feel his work inspires you. Even if I didn't know he was our grandfather, I love his movies like many people do."

A more direct influence: her parents, who brought Aurélia and her brother James along on their globe-trotting circus tours (including one to Seattle Rep, with their troupe Cirque Invisible.)

"When they were really tiny we'd play all these little towns in France," recalls Chaplin. "We always wanted them with us, and we'd give them little parts to do."

As a teenager, however, Thierrée chose to come off the road and attend a regular school in Paris. "That was a big, exotic adventure for me," she reports, "to be normal."

Later, after finishing her studies, she began missing the vagabond theater life. "I started assisting directors in the theater, but even when I was working in soup kitchens and offices, everything I did was bringing me back to it."

In 2001, Thierrée began a long touring stint with the British cult theatrical band the Tiger Lillies. That led to joining forces with Chaplin to create her own act, "little by little, for a long time." The result was "Aurélia's Oratorio" which debuted in Munich in 2003.

Thierrée still finds it hard to describe the piece. "I have some physical skills — a base in trapeze, and I grew up around dancers. But I'm not a dancer or an acrobat. I just use whatever I can."

She adds, "How audiences see the show changes from city to city. In London they saw it as fun and entertaining. In Spain and Portugal they saw it as darker. It's however people interpret it."

Chaplin calls the show a fairy tale but one in which "a puppet commits suicide — but it's over in one second!" (The piece is not recommended for kids younger than 10.)

Both mother and daughter say they'd happily collaborate again. "As a family, we've always been involved in each other's lives," notes Thierrée. "Each time we meet, we talk of possible ways of working together."

For Chaplin, the creative bond comes down to something basic. "Artisans show their jobs to their children," she declares, "and the children then know how to make a beautiful table."

Misha Berson: mberson@seattletimes.com