CABARECHT

A tulle curtain covers the stage. The melancholy sound of an accordion and 3 figures, like three Greek “Graces”, who appear to have stepped out of a mythological tale, sing and introduce us to a timeless era, a story from another time, which is not so very far away from our own.

Suddenly, the setting changes: to the light-hearted and dynamic notes of the song “Puttin ‘On The Ritz”, just like in a variety show from the past, through video projections and a flurry of sequins, our three guides appear clearly: Hope Nomore, Faith Faker and Charity Lost, three drag queens who delineate the space on stage through a dynamic and playful choreography routine. In CABARECHT, the names chosen represent the contradictions, disillusions and hypocrisies that are personified in our protagonists. 

The setting turns around once more, an imperious voice (voice off stage) calls our drag queens to order. The Voice, perhaps a Goddess, a Big Brother figure, or simply the voice of the Internet, invites our hosts to introduce themselves to the public and quickly start what they were called to do: sing about humanity.

Three songs from the tradition of cabaret and the 1930s variety show, that playfully examine the eternally controversial relationship between mankind and money. The scene turns into the front stage of a theatre in 1930s Berlin.

It is “The Voice” (voice off stage) that interrupts everything by scolding Hope, Faith and Charity. 

To the notes of “Falling in love again” by Marlene Dietrich “The Voice” introduces the next scene. The space is modified to the melancholic and persuasive notes of a passage of music taken from the Italian song, “L’Angelo Azzurro”. The music becomes a passionate Tango and the three drag queens slowly fade away. The projected video becomes the protagonist.

A woman is at the centre of this tableau.

The stage is now cluttered with chairs, three characters enter, reminiscent of old-time brothel madams. These three figures will tell the stories of women, through musical moments, to the public. Tales of women who are loved, women who are possessed and often exploited, women who are killed by their own man.

The scene comes to an end to the notes of Antonio Vivaldi’s “Sposa son disprezzata”: a giant structure/skirt, a desperate dance that gives voice, through carefully choreographed movements, to the suffocated cry for help of every woman who has been a victim of abuse and violence.

Images of beautifully made up, coiffed and primped women, depicted as objects of desire, are dissected and placed alongside images of beaten and abused women. Glamorous beauty make-up juxtaposed with a bruise, lipstick with a livid swelling, fishnet stockings with bandages.

The stage is transformed again by the three protagonists so we can explore the next scene: Power.

Moving panels, manipulated by our performers, create a choreographed interlude that fragments our view of the stage, captures our attention and, at times, shifts our focus on to images of war and destruction.

In the finale, “The Voice” takes the reins of the show, getting ready to reveal the moral of the entire show. Hope, Faith and Charity slowly undress and listen to what “She” is saying. When She is about to arrive at the true meaning, the resolution of all the problems, the three drag queens suddenly pull the plug and “The Voice” abruptly stops, leaving her speech unfinished.

The lights go out.