Ellen McDougall’s inaugural season as Artistic Director of the Gate Theatre concludes with Effigies of Wickedness (Songs Banned by the Nazis), a riotous cabaret performance, which is already shaping up to be such a box office hit that an extension to the run has been announced prior to the production opening, with further tickets released due to popular demand. This exciting collaboration between the Gate Theatre and English National Opera, is directed by McDougall and opens on 3rd May and will now run until 9 June.
As the Nazis identified difference as something to be afraid of, the Weimar Kabarett scene danced on with songs that celebrated it. With music from Brecht and Weill to Schoenberg, this subversive underground scene was bursting at the seams with brilliant, visionary artists. No surprise then, that they were censored, exiled and incarcerated shortly after as ‘degenerates’. And their songs have been all but lost since.
Ellen McDougall, talking about the collaboration, said ‘It has been enormously exciting to make a collaboration with ENO, an organisation over 30 times our size, and whose Artistic Director Daniel Kramer previously directed groundbreaking productions of Hair and Woyzeck for the Gate. Working together means we can make a production of much bigger scope – including a live, 4-piece band and 4 incredibly talented performers. It is a testament to the incredible songs from the Weimar Kabarett scene that the project has attracted such a wealth of talent to both make and perform in the piece – including Christopher Green, Seiriol Davies, Le Gateau Chocolat and Lucy McCormick. Our season will end with a defiant musical celebration of difference, diversity, and freedom of expression.’
