Come back to Berlin at CdA this Saturday

It’s sexy, bawdy, dark and sinister but cabaret isn’t  just about girls writhing on chairs amidst a haze of cigarette smoke.

1918 – 1933  before Hitler’s rise to power, an impoverished Germany was on her knees, fragile and fractured by the devastation of a lost war.  Capitalism had lost it’s hold on the social order, a cloud of despair cast a dark shadow over a defeated and downcast population.

But culture during the Weimar Republic positively boomed.  It is a period associated with some of the 20th Century’s most influential and groundbreaking thinkers, philosophers, artists and architects. It produced authors like Thomas Mann who wrote about the psychology and the soul of the artist. Cast your mind back to that first philosophy lecture and remember Husserl phenomenology and Heidegger.  Think Walter Gropius and the age of Bauhaus, a fresh apolitical architectural movement that sought to unite the arts as a whole and created radically simplified forms of functionality and great design. Remember Paul Klee and his rejection of high art in favour of the outsider and the art of the insane. Think of Bertolt Brecht and his dismissal of conventional theatre.  Brecht’s “Epic Theatre” jolted the audience from their suspended disbelief and reminded them that the play is only a representation of a reality.  Couple Brecht with one of Weimar’s most influential composers, the socialist Kurt Weil and you have Saturday night at Café des Artistes.

Many of the songs in Adrienne Thomas and Hayward Slater’s show “Back to Berlin” come from Brecht and Weil’s most famous collaborations, The Threepenny Opera and Happy End, with individual gems such as Boulevard of Broken Dreams and the Soldiers Wife woven in. The haunting themes from September Song, dramatic narratives from the ubiquitous Mack the Knife and Pirate Jenny all make an appearance.

Throughout the evening Brecht’s dark humour surfaces through the drama; thought provoking and challenging; we feel clearly the beginnings of modern political and social satire made palatable by the jagged tango rhythms and sweet lyrical melodies of Kurt Weil’s musical score. The show also chronicles the background of social and political upheaval in 1930’s Berlin which inspired these narrative treasures and creates a spell binding atmosphere in which to absorb their depth and meaning. Made even more pertinent when you consider the parallels being drawn between Weimar Culture and the world today, with a burgeoning distrust in capitalism, art now is reflecting this new economic turmoil we find ourselves in.

Adrienne breathes new life into these works, her powerful voice making you tingle and causing the hairs on the back of your neck to stand to attention. Accompanied by Howard Slater, who transforms a score originally written for a small orchestra ingeniously and evocatively on his guitar, it’s guaranteed to be a special evening.

CdA will be serving Spanish inspired tablas which can be pre-ordered before the first half to enjoy in the interval. The bar will of course be open and you are encouraged to take your drinks upstairs to the show.

Doors open 7pm

Show starts 8pm

Interval 40 mins

Tickets on sale at wegottickets.com and Union Music Store Lewes.

Tickets £8.50 concessions for OAP’s and students £6.50