When asked to come up with a description of the Department of Theatre’s upcoming production “Cabaret,” director Karla Koskinen pauses for just a second before coming up with the perfect comparison to the play, which is set in 1930s Berlin.

Director Karla Koskinen, (center), and choreographer Charlotte Lantz-Zuckerman say the cast is ready to take audience members to the decadent lifestyle of Berlin’s “Cabaret” in the early 1930s. The play will be performed in the Sirote Theatre April 16-19. The Sirote Theatre is taking on the look of a cabaret for the production.

“It reminds me of what New York City was like in the early 1970s,” she says. “Berlin at that time was labeled Sin City, kind of like New York City was in the early ’70s, and it truly lived up to that reputation.”
Audience members can get an up-close look of pre-World War II Berlin when “Cabaret” is performed in the Sirote Theatre April 16-19 at 7:30 p.m. and April 20 at 2 p.m.

The cabarets of the 1930s were filled with numbers that explored sex, political satire and relevant social issues of the day. “This cabaret is a second-rate club, a seedy place,” Koskinen says. “The numbers in the club serve as a comment on what was happening both in society and to the characters in the play.”

But behind the nightlife decadence of “Cabaret” are very serious themes.

Set on the eve of the Nazis’ rise to power, “Cabaret” focuses on nightlife, particularly on that of a female performer and her relationship with young American. A sub-plot involves the doomed romance between a German boardinghouse owner and her suitor, a Jewish fruit vendor. Overseeing the action is the Emcee, who presides as master of ceremonies at the cabaret and serves as a constant metaphor for the current state of society in Weimar, Germany, throughout the show.

“The cabaret was a place people could go to escape their everyday lives and avoid the social and political problems that were threatening Germany,” Koskinen says.

Theatre, audience get new look
The Sirote Theatre has been undergoing a bit of a temporary renovation for this production, with set designer Cliff Simon leading the charge to create a unique environment. Simon has set up the theatre like a cabaret, giving it a totally different look and feel for the performers and for the audience.

“We all were really impressed and excited by the environment change,” Koskinen says. “It’s helped the production tremendously. The actors are very close to the audience, so they can make contact with audience members and bring them into the world of the club.”

The changes are so dramatic that the audience members will enter into the theatre from behind the stage. There will be chairs on platforms and a few tables and chairs on the stage floor itself for the audience.

“Some people are going to feel like they’re on the cabaret stage,” Koskinen says. “It will be a totally different kind of experience than most audience members have ever had in that theater.”

Call 975-ARTS for tickets.