By Peter Maddern
The enduring affection this town has for Robyn Archer was on full show at a packed out Space Theatre Saturday afternoon for her latest cabaret show Dancing on the Volcano. That name derives from the sensation described by cabaret poets and songwriters in Germany, particularly Berlin, between the wars. Archer narrowed her range of material, diligently unearthed and researched by pianist Michael Morley, as songs written between 1920 and 1932 as these were the years where the frothy rivers of post WWI relief and celebration started to develop unsettling undercurrents about what would come.
Drawing on the usual luminaries of the era – Brecht, Weill, Eisler and a delightful series of Frederich Hollaender songs – Archer in her trademark cheery disposition delved through a raft of themes, from Brecht’s obsessions around murder to the schlock and kitsch that came from eventual emigres once the Nazis came to power and they were forced, in a great big hurry, to flee for their lives.
The numbers were short and precise but the jovial delivery did not mask these aforementioned undercurrents starting to surface as the years passed, with all the unease and anxiety that this period would ultimately wrought on the world, all starting with the Wall Street Crash of 1929.
Whether intentionally or otherwise, Archer seemed to also allude to our current world where the similarities between where we are eight years on after the Global Financial Crisis and then have eerie if not yet unsettling parallels.
For those set on an annual fix of Weimar cabaret at our Cabaret Festival, Archer delivers a strong and compelling performance.
Kryztoff Rating 3.5K
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