REVIEW: Cabaret
- Posted on September 12, 2007 5:21 PM
- 0 comments
Cabaret
Lyric Theatre
Review by Katie Spain
I did a tour of Berlin once. It’s a city with a colourful past… packed with history and a nightlife I didn’t get the chance to see. After the taster served up by the latest revival of John Kander and Fred Ebb’s musical ‘Cabaret’, I wish I had.
Yes, London’s West End has a new hub of sex, drugs and debauchery and it’s happening inside the Lyric Theatre.
Before you call in the sniffer dogs, it is worth noting that the ‘fun’ is simulated – a concept that the girl sitting in front of me didn’t quite grasp. While she thought the ‘party excesses’ were over the top, I thought they were woven via a subtle thread throughout the choreography. Above all it’s a visually exciting take on a notoriously heavy chapter in world history.
The story takes place in 1931 Berlin while Germany is polishing her guns for war. Unperturbed by the unrest around them, the Kit Kat Club-goers party on with raucous delight. Outside, the razor-sharp fangs of racism bite at the heels of the venue and the city’s inhabitants. A visiting American writer (Clifford Bradshaw) stumbles upon the club and is soon seduced by the drugs, sex and sin within. A relationship with raunchy performer Sally Bowles shows him the delightful and the dark side of life in the German capital.
My companion is disappointed when we discover that the lead role of Sally is not played by Anna Maxwell-Martin. I’m not overly familiar with the actress so couldn’t care less… that’s the luck of the draw. Her replacement however, does well and although she doesn’t command our attention with jaw-dropping vocals, her performance is raw and carries a certain edge. Even my sidekick loses his Maxwell-Martin frown.
Sheila Hancock however, is with us… and lights up the stage with her gentle grace as hotel owner Fraulein Schneider. Her role may not match the saucy, semi-clad kit Kat Clubbers around her, but the chemistry between her and the old Jewish gentleman Herr Schultz (Geoffrey Hutchings) is moving.
The show is sealed at the hinges by the man in drag… James Dreyfus.. From the moment he flashes his Cheshire cat grin and flexes his hairy fishnet stocking encased leg, he has us hooked. As Emcee he introduces us to the characters and their surroundings. He stirs up laughter when it’s needed, flashes his bits when it’s not and tiptoes the line between humor and hard-hitting issues. There’s nothing like a man in tight leather… and as wrong as it feels to say it, Dreyfus looks like he’s made for the task.
The cast’s interaction with the crowd, the close proximity at which we’re sitting and the eye-contact with the lecherous bombshells on stage gives this production the raw edge it needs to be convincing. Maybe the girl in front of me isn’t but I get the feeling that this is a musical that some will love (I’d go back again) and some will find difficult to swallow. Yes, ‘Cabarets’ of the past have been bright, bustling, glamorous and happy spectacles but chances are, they barely dipped your consciousness into Hitler’s boiling pot.
Make no mistake; this is at times, a dark and gloomy production. The final scene smacks me like a fist in the stomach and the nudity and sexual innuendos may shock some audience members. Rest assured, it is neither distasteful nor inappropriate. You’ll see worse on pre-watershed BBC documentaries.
Director Rufus Norris has credits such as Market Boy (National Olivier) Tintin (Barbican) and the award-winning Festen (Almeida and Lyric). Market Boy set something alight in me too, while others didn’t agree. I guess I like the dark undertones of some of his work. You win some; you lose some… just like West End seat allocations. That’s showbiz hey? Luckily, we come out winners tonight. Cabaret is a moving experience and a thoroughly entertaining and thought provoking one at that.
History may be a horror-packed parcel but when it’s told like this, unwrapping the tightly bound packaging is as rewarding as the final message inside.
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