The Spielpalast Cabaret, who hail from Burlington, Vermont in the USA, are a troupe dedicated to restoring cabaret to its feisty, transgressive, gender-bending, political origins – referencing the bathtub gin of the Roaring 20s, the artistic rebellion of Dada, and the transgressive decadence of the Weimar Republic.
And how does this manifest? In a rip-roaring extravaganza of songs (Mack the Knife! And less predictably, Lilly the Pink!); dances – luscious ladies of all shapes and sizes in a lovely white-feathered fan dance, and a sexy-but-funny version of Tom Lehrer’s ‘Masochism Tango’; clown routines – a shoe puppetry piece kicks off proceedings; and live music from an excellent band made up of drums, double bass, violin and accordion. The band’s drummer (who, it must be admitted, I was predisposed to like as he had lent me a tenner when I arrived outside the venue in a cab, three minutes before the show’s start, with no cash on me. Having stepped outside for a quick fag break, he saw a damsel in distress and offered help unequivocally – and yes, dear reader, I did repay him!) was also an excellent clown, emerging from behind his kit to join the action on numerous occasions.
There’s saucy satire aplenty, particularly when it comes to sexual politics, with a storyline about a born-again Christian showgirl; and one about robot-women featuring a lovely automaton girl, described as the ‘perfect woman, hardly moves or speaks’; and an outrageous skit called ‘My Girl’s Pussy’ which features ladies with tails and whiskers emerging from other ladies’ – well, I’ll leave you to work it out.
On the animal costume front, there is also a very marvellous small person who is the White Rabbit: he doesn’t appear pulled from a top hat, but rather has a top hat pulled from him.
A word of praise also to the company for the thought that has gone into the whole aesthetic and presentation, with, for example, ‘cigarette girls’ prowling the bar pre-show selling very lovely mock-vintage postcards of voluptuous ladies (and gentlemen!), and I hear a special pre-show cocktail hour (although being in that late-running cab I missed that).
Despite being in the very lovely Hill Street Theatre, supported by Remarkable Arts, and at a perfect time slot for cabaret (at 10.45pm) the show didn’t have the audience numbers it deserved, although it was very well received. Perhaps they need to be in a more traditional cabaret rather than theatre setting? A Spiegeltent of course would be perfect for them!
And the show was only in Edinburgh for a short run, closing the day after I saw it. I worry that the company didn’t really get the exposure they so definitely deserve for one of the wittiest and prettiest cabaret shows I’ve seen in a long while.
I do hope – and saying this, I’m aware it is a long way to come, and they are a very large troupe – that they take the risk and return for a future Fringe!