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May 20, 2018
Effigies of Wickedness, Gate Theatre, London, review: A remarkable cabaret of 'degenerate' songs banned by the Nazis
A collaboration with the English National Opera results in an immensely gifted cast that straddle cabaret and opera
The Gate Theatre has teamed up with English National Opera to present this remarkable cabaret-style show of songs banned by the Nazis. The title comes from a speech made by the curator of the "Entartete Musik" (Degenerate Music) Exhibition that opened in Dusseldorf in 1938.
To celebrate "national music", the Nazis had set up listening booths where visitors - as a deterrent - could hear examples of the despised "un-German" musical styles: including atonal composition and operetta, but especially work by Jewish composers and jazz which was dismissed as "nigger music".SHARE THIS NEWS ITEM