By Peter Maddern
As Mr Kruck’s (aka Lionel) examination of Wikipedia revealed, cabaret can take many forms yet its constituent elements pretty much remain the same. Throw in a good opening, some sex, booze (lots of it preferably), a narrative to draw the audience in and a rollicking good finish and you have the archetypal cabaret show.
Here the combination of the loss of his boyfriend, Neil, and the tauntings of his fearsome German analyst, Griselda, have Lionel alone and terrified on stage in front of a hundred strangers and little but the aforementioned source to get him through an hour.
It is a brave, almost a scary brave approach to a show though Kruck’s comic prowess gets him through with undiluted gin proposed as the shield that weathers the storm of his self-consciousness.
The songs and arrangements of Benjamin Kiehne and Chris Perren are serviceable even if Kruck’s voice is not exactly a pristine machine. The deep introspection of his latter numbers probably played well to the same sex partners listening in and those up for an amusing challenge would enjoy the mania.
But while the struggle for his audience was not as great as Kruck portrayed for himself on stage, 60 minutes proved as much as one would want, even with a cold night to greet one on departing.
Kryztoff Rating 3K
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