“There was a cabaret, and there was a master of ceremonies, and there was a city called Berlin in a country called Germany. It was the end of the world… and I was dancing with Sally Bowles and we were both fast asleep…”
In five short years, The Fugard Theatre in Cape Town’s Fringe precinct has – on the back of prestigious dramas, magical entertainment, and top-drawer performers – built a solid reputation as a bastion of independent theatre. It is with its musicals, especially, that the robust little theatre has managed to shake up the public’s mindset, and cram its auditorium with sold-out performances and extended runs.
According to the theatre’s executive director, Daniel Galloway, the recent runaway success of **The Rocky Horror Show** served as a turning point for The Fugard. “What was meant to be an eight week season turned out to be a monster of a production, which by the time it closed for its final season in Johannesburg on 1st February, played for 61 sold-out weeks and was seen by more than 150,000 people.” Despite the show’s high running expenses, full houses meant production and theatre costs were covered, something that is notoriously hard to achieve.
That success no doubt explains why the creative team behind the **Rocky Horror** phenomenon has been assembled once again to drive a new production of another popular musical. Packed with some of theatre’s most beloved songs and most memorable characters, **Cabaret** is being revived at The Fugard this month with **Rocky Horror** director, Matthew Wild, at the helm. Known for his provocative staging and ability to make the audience feel as though they’re part of the action, Wild has used his dapper hand to turn operas into lively romps and has, in a relatively short career, earned a reputation for bringing a new energy and verve to even well-known works. “I try to stage things in a way that will wake people up a bit,” he says. “I like to jolt audiences into seeing a work in a new light. I think audiences go into a bit of a snooze if they get what they expect.”
Even after blowing audiences away with his concept for **Rocky Horror**, Wild has his work cut out for him with his reimagining of **Cabaret**, a show with a 50-year pedigree.
Set in Berlin just as the Nazis came to power in pre-war Weimar Germany, the story weaves together sagas of frail relationships played off against a backdrop of creeping social and racial prejudice. Meanwhile, the decadence and debauchery of Berlin’s nightlife is showcased via risqué performances at the outrageously debauched Kit Kat Klub, where revellers are entertained by the Emcee’s provocative cabaret ensemble. Their hot, sweaty, frequently lascivious song-and-dance routines actually work as powerful commentary on Germany’s darkening mood as a nation falls almost unconsciously into the grip of Nazi control. It’s a tragic parable, really, about the consequences of a society turning a blind eye to what’s happening in the real world around them.
Woven into the cabaret club’s escapist milieu of gaiety and frivolous excess are unfolding human dramas of persecution, primarily of Jews and homosexuals. It’s this social dimension that gives the musical its timeless relevance. More than a sexy, entertaining romp, it’s a metaphor for how stealthily systems of political control can turn sinister and abusive.
Based on a play that was based on a short novel by Christopher Isherwood, the musical made its debut in 1966, becoming a Broadway hit before being made into a hugely successful feature film starring Liza Minnelli as Sally Bowles, and the illustrious Joel Grey as Emcee. The film won eight Oscars, but lost in the Best Picture category to **The Godfather**.
In 1993, the show was reconceived for the West End when Sam Mendes directed it, with Alan Cummings in the role of Emcee – a part he’s recently revived for a Broadway production that comes to an end this month. The Mendes production included a number of changes, giving it a more overtly sexualised tone and borrowing significantly from the film adaptation.
Meanwhile, in Cape Town, Emcee is being played by Charl-Johan Lingenfelder, who returns to the stage for the first time in 20 years. Lingenfelder, who is also the show’s musical supervisor, has worked behind the scenes as musical director for countless productions, including **Rocky Horror**.
Lingenfelder says that it’s an opportunity of a lifetime. “It’s a potent piece of theatre with incredible relevance. And Emcee is one of the greatest characters written for musical theatre. I believe there’s a lot of life still to be breathed into this character, even though everybody knows Joel Grey and Alan Cummings. I’m not interested in replicating what they’ve done. I’m interested in seeing what I can bring to this character.”
It’s a demanding role, and crazily athletic, too, he says. “The only question for me is whether I actually have the stamina to last that long on a stage. I’ve just assumed that I’m capable of doing what I could do 20 years ago.”
Something Lingenfelder does know is that the on-stage world he’ll inhabit will be fully formed and highly engaging. “One of Matthew Wild’s big strengths is his understanding of style and his grasp of an era, and he has the ability to make those elements enticing for a contemporary audience. **Rocky Horror** was a very good example of that. Every little detail was set in a period, but done in such a way that audiences could relate to it. **Cabaret** will work in a similar way, giving audiences a grasp of what the period was like. ”
For some people, that period will come as a shock. Certainly, says Lingenfelder, the debauchery of the era will probably surprise South African audiences. “Few people have any idea of the level of decadence that was happening in Berlin during the Weimar era. Stuff that today is frowned upon was part of that era’s free-for-all and was part of daily life. That is something that will come to life in this production through whatever tools we have at our disposal.”
For Wild, portraying that decadence has nothing to do with creating sensationalism, and everything to do with compelling people to sit up and pay attention. “I don’t intentionally try to shock audiences, but I do want people to actually engage with what’s going on and one way to do that is to give them a staging that’s unexpected. Something that jolts them out of their comfort zone.”
Cabaret’ opened at The Fugard Theatre in Cape Town on 10th March.
Tickets are available from the box office +27 21 461 4554 or computicket.com.
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