In 1929 Christopher Isherwood was sent down from University, and as a result, decided to visit Berlin, to seek his destiny as a writer. This was during the Nazi Occupation. There he discovered The Kit Kat Klub, and became friends with the British chanteuse, Sally Bowles. From this intrepid expedition to the underbelly of Germany came Isherwood’s famous novel: Goodbye To Berlin. Next came the play, I Am A Camera, by John Van Druten, and after that, Masteroff, Kander and Ebb’s Cabaret, in the early 1960’s.
Cabaret was a watershed in the American Theatre Canon. Nothing that came after would ever be the same. No one knew what to make of it. Here was a musical that addressed the creeping, sinister triumph of the Nazi Regime, and subsequently genocide, antisemitism, and the “banality of evil”. The premise: a crumby nightclub where people come to ignore their troubles, is deceptively simple. On its face, Cabaret suggests something harmless. We all have troubles, what problem could there be with escapism? How could otherwise caring souls turn a blind eye to the systematic persecution of the Jews living in Berlin? And Sally Bowles (the mediocre nightclub singer) becomes the metaphor for fatuous hedonism. For all her loopy energy, she’s quite likable. Which is what makes her curiously defiant performance of “Cabaret”, all the more disturbing. It comes off as a rebuke to Clifford, who’s disgusted with her unconscionable choices.
Clifford spends his first night in Berlin at The Kit Kat Club. He rents a room in a boarding house from Fraulein Schneider, a sweet elderly woman, who has experienced much disappointment. The club is a dive, hosted by the Emcee, a caricature of grotesque, salacious degeneracy. There he meets Sally, all frantic charm and hopped up chatter. She shows up at his tiny apartment, more or less inviting herself to move in. She introduces him to the wicked nightlife she knows quite well, much to Clifford’s delight. He neglects his aspirations as an author, spending most of his time kicking up his heels. Then he starts noticing the rise of Fascism and escalating persecution of the Jews. Cabaret culminates when Clifford confronts Sally with her appalling, shallow apathy. Sally refuses to go with him, when he returns to America, as the Nazis begin turning everything upside down.
Outcry Theatre has been producing sharp, intelligent, powerful shows for quite awhile, now. Cabaret is no exception. The cast is dedicated, avid and memorably touching. Their ability to evoke such an absorbing narrative with minimal sets and demanding rehearsal schedule, is truly remarkable. It takes unusual skill and chutzpah to bring a musical like Cabaret to the stage, with its chilling irony. It’s odd mixture of wry humor and dreadful portent. Masteroff, Kander and Ebb fashioned a musical where content has cunning, duplicitous meaning. Where the subtext points a finger at the audience. This is not a show for repertory, impulse or amateurs. Outcry has chosen a show with stunning relevance in our current crisis of mob rule and upheaval. And the cast has come through with astonishing virtuosity.
Outcry Theatre presented Cabaret July-15th-18th, 2021 at Cox Playhouse. Outcry’s address is: 1915 North Central Expressway, Suite 120, Plano, Texas 75075. 972-836-7206. www.outcrytheatre.com