Cabaret at the Playhouse Theatre

‘Eddie Redmayne & Jessie Buckley shimmer & scintillate in this striking reworking’: CABARET – West End

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Playhouse Theatre, London

“Gather together to greet the storm”… There’s a lot that has gone into tempting us out from sitting in our room. Director Rebecca Frecknall and designer Tom Scutt have done an awesome job in reconfiguring the Playhouse Theatre into the risqué surroundings of The Kit Kat Club. From sweatily intimate pre-show entertainment (that could possibly benefit from a touch of crowd control) to a transformed auditorium, there’s no doubting the welcome im cabaret, au cabaret, to Cabaret

And for the eye-wincing levels that ticket prices go up to in this first casting period, as well that welcome should be extended. There’s a lot that works supremely well in this production of John Kander, Fred Ebb and Joe Masteroff’s iconic musical. The dazzle of recognizable showtunes is stripped away to focus on the uncompromising weight of a narrative about the untrammelled rise of fascism, ostensibly in 1930s Germany but in reality, in any society at all.

Eddie Redmayne’s electrifying Emcee is a prowling presence throughout the entire show. If he’s not conducting from the stage, he’s purring into the ears of audience members, controlling and co-opting us into the ever-darkening tone. And Jessie Buckley is at times extraordinary as would-be cabaret star Sally Bowles, connecting her songs to her disintegrating mental state in a boldly awe-inspiring manner that shatters expectation.

Both performances push hard to break through convention and there are moments when it is occasionally too much, a little too weird and too cracked, this Sally’s relationship to Omari Douglas’ Clifford suffers as a result. But tenderness is there from Liza Sadovy and Elliot Levey’s late-blooming romance. And pride too, in Julia Cheng’s brilliantly individualistic choreography, until jackbooted oppression and conformity wins the day. Not worth £250 to sit in the dress circle (what could ever!) but definitely worth stalking the website obsessively for returns.

Running time: 2 hours 45 minutes (with interval)
Photos: Marc Brenner
Cabaret is running at The Kit Kat Club until 1st October, with casting from 21st March to be announced and much greater ticket availability from that point on

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‘Eddie Redmayne & Jessie Buckley shimmer & scintillate in this striking reworking’: @OughtToBeClowns immerses himself in #Cabaret at @kitkatclubLDN. #theatrereviews #WestEnd

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Ian Foster
Since 2003, Ian Foster has been writing reviews of plays, sometimes with a critical element, on his blog Ought to Be Clowns, which has been listed as one of the UK's Top Ten Theatre Blogs by Lastminute.com, Vuelio and Superbreak. He averages more than 350+ shows a year. He says: "Call me a reviewer, a critic or a blogger, and you will apparently put someone or other's nose out of joint! So take it or leave it, essentially this is my theatrical diary, recording everything I go to see at the theatre in London and beyond, and venturing a little into the worlds of music and film/TV where theatrical connections can be made."
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Ian Foster on FacebookIan Foster on RssIan Foster on Twitter
Ian Foster
Since 2003, Ian Foster has been writing reviews of plays, sometimes with a critical element, on his blog Ought to Be Clowns, which has been listed as one of the UK's Top Ten Theatre Blogs by Lastminute.com, Vuelio and Superbreak. He averages more than 350+ shows a year. He says: "Call me a reviewer, a critic or a blogger, and you will apparently put someone or other's nose out of joint! So take it or leave it, essentially this is my theatrical diary, recording everything I go to see at the theatre in London and beyond, and venturing a little into the worlds of music and film/TV where theatrical connections can be made."

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