'33(a kabarett) is a show about choosing to speak up in the face of censorship and oppression. As Martin Niemöller said “they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”
'33(a kabarett) speaks to the past and present. Performed and written by Bremner, the darkly humorous monodrama is based directly on texts of survivors and oppressors from the 1930's, and also on texts from periods of cultural repression up to the present day. '33 offers a hopeful and realistic insight into the struggle against censorship and repression. It speaks to the challenge of honoring the memory of the disappeared. It says we must grieve in sorrow, but we can choose to fight back with energy, humor, laughter, and life.
"In 2012", says Bremner, "I heard the remarkable song 'Unsrer Shtetl Brent' (Our Town is Burning) by Mordecai Gebertig. Mr. Gebertig wrote the song in 1936 following a Pogrom in a Polish village. The song speaks of the need and difficulty to speak up and take action against oppression. Before his murder in 1942, Mr. Gebertig said he wanted this song to be an inspiration to all movements against repression. It became an anthem of resistance. I wanted to work with this powerful song. At the same time, I was reading about 1933, when Hitler took power, and though he did not have the strength to attack the communities he really hated, he did have enough power to attack artists. He ordered the brutal repression and closure of theatres and cabarets across Germany. Many of the writers and performers were arrested and taken to the first concentration camps, others fled the country. Finally I found the story of the Eldorado Cabaret in Berlin, which featured regular performances by Marlene Dietrich. When Hitler ordered the closure of the Berlin Kabaretts, the Nazis raided the Eldorado. They took it over and transformed it into the local Nazi headquarters. This material wove itself into '33(a kabarett), which speaks to the events in Berlin in 1933, but also to acts of repression and censorship throughout the 20th Century and into our times. '33(a kabarett) asks the question; if the voices of those around you have been silenced, will you continue to speak up. "
'33(a kabarett) speaks to the past and present. Performed and written by Bremner, the darkly humorous monodrama is based directly on texts of survivors and oppressors from the 1930's, and also on texts from periods of cultural repression up to the present day. '33 offers a hopeful and realistic insight into the struggle against censorship and repression. It speaks to the challenge of honoring the memory of the disappeared. It says we must grieve in sorrow, but we can choose to fight back with energy, humor, laughter, and life.
"In 2012", says Bremner, "I heard the remarkable song 'Unsrer Shtetl Brent' (Our Town is Burning) by Mordecai Gebertig. Mr. Gebertig wrote the song in 1936 following a Pogrom in a Polish village. The song speaks of the need and difficulty to speak up and take action against oppression. Before his murder in 1942, Mr. Gebertig said he wanted this song to be an inspiration to all movements against repression. It became an anthem of resistance. I wanted to work with this powerful song. At the same time, I was reading about 1933, when Hitler took power, and though he did not have the strength to attack the communities he really hated, he did have enough power to attack artists. He ordered the brutal repression and closure of theatres and cabarets across Germany. Many of the writers and performers were arrested and taken to the first concentration camps, others fled the country. Finally I found the story of the Eldorado Cabaret in Berlin, which featured regular performances by Marlene Dietrich. When Hitler ordered the closure of the Berlin Kabaretts, the Nazis raided the Eldorado. They took it over and transformed it into the local Nazi headquarters. This material wove itself into '33(a kabarett), which speaks to the events in Berlin in 1933, but also to acts of repression and censorship throughout the 20th Century and into our times. '33(a kabarett) asks the question; if the voices of those around you have been silenced, will you continue to speak up. "
'33 (a kabarett): In the ruins of a Cabaret theatre, an actor tumbles onto a darkened stage. When the lights come up he finds himself alone. His friends and colleagues have disappeared, arrested by the authorities. Only their glittering, torn costumes remain. In order to escape the same fate and survive, the actor should run and vanish into the night, but an audience has slipped through the broken door. So, in tribute, he uses all his talents to joyously recreate the acts of the missing company. The Funnyman, the Showgirl, the Song and Dance Man and the rest of his troupe spring to life as the actor pays homage to his disappeared friends . '33(a kabarett) features 9 songs from the era, with new arrangements by Bremner's jazz trio. Directed by Dave Dawson, who created an expressionistic world of extravagant, generous, visceral gestures. '33(a kabarett) is highly imaginative, imagistic, explosive and full of surprise.
'33 (a kabarett) has been performed across North America and Europe to full houses and critical acclaim. In Europe, '33 was invited to Germany to the Thespis Theatre Festival and was chosen open the Armmono Theatre Festival in Armenia in 2015, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. It has recently toured in the Balkans and to the Ukraine and will be touring in Russia, Germany and Eastern Europe in 2017 It has received Five Star reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and has been performed at festivals across North America .
Written and performed by Bremner Duthie
with original direction by Dave Dawson
new direction by Joseph Furnari
dramaturgy by Caroline Russell-King and Rob Burns
original choreography by Julie Tomaino and Tracy Darin
'33 (a kabarett) has been performed across North America and Europe to full houses and critical acclaim. In Europe, '33 was invited to Germany to the Thespis Theatre Festival and was chosen open the Armmono Theatre Festival in Armenia in 2015, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. It has recently toured in the Balkans and to the Ukraine and will be touring in Russia, Germany and Eastern Europe in 2017 It has received Five Star reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and has been performed at festivals across North America .
Written and performed by Bremner Duthie
with original direction by Dave Dawson
new direction by Joseph Furnari
dramaturgy by Caroline Russell-King and Rob Burns
original choreography by Julie Tomaino and Tracy Darin
Kabarett – a brief history
In Germany, between WWI and WWII, Kabarett was the most important creative place for musical and theatrical experimentation. Kabarett (as made popular in the musical ‘Cabaret’) was a form of musical theatre where the songs and skits often confronted and satirized the audience, instead of simply entertaining them. Satire, sex, scandal and humour flourished on stage, as song writers like Kurt Weill and Friedrich Hollaender created classic songs like ‘Mack the Knife’ and ‘Falling in Love Again’. The stars of Kabarett were the brilliant Master of Ceremonies who mocked the political and social powers of the country. In the 1930’s, as the Nazis rose to power, they brutally suppressed the Kabaretts and those who dared to perform in them. Most of the MCs who did not escape ended their days in concentration camps.
In Germany, between WWI and WWII, Kabarett was the most important creative place for musical and theatrical experimentation. Kabarett (as made popular in the musical ‘Cabaret’) was a form of musical theatre where the songs and skits often confronted and satirized the audience, instead of simply entertaining them. Satire, sex, scandal and humour flourished on stage, as song writers like Kurt Weill and Friedrich Hollaender created classic songs like ‘Mack the Knife’ and ‘Falling in Love Again’. The stars of Kabarett were the brilliant Master of Ceremonies who mocked the political and social powers of the country. In the 1930’s, as the Nazis rose to power, they brutally suppressed the Kabaretts and those who dared to perform in them. Most of the MCs who did not escape ended their days in concentration camps.
'33 (a kabarett) is loosely based on the fate of the Eldorado Club in Berlin. The Eldorado was featured in countless novels and contemporary guide books, including those by Christopher Isherwood. It featured regular performances by the likes of Marlene Dietrich, Claire Waldoff and the Weintraub Syncopators. When Herman Goering ordered the closure of the Berlin Kabaretts the Eldorado was raided and closed down. The Club was then taken over by the Nazis and used as a local headquarters.
BREMNER:
Bremner was born in New York and grew up in the USA and Canada. Singing is all he ever wanted to do. Every afternoon in New York, his family could hear him coming down the street as he sang his way home from school. He started singing with Punk Rock bands, moved on to studying Opera at McGill University in Montreal, and trained in contemporary vocal music at the 'Centre for New Opera' in Banff, Alberta. He has sung operatic roles by Mozart and avant-garde masterpieces like Maxwell Davies' 'Eight Songs for a Mad King'. Bremner has performed across North America and Europe in theatre and in concert, working with chamber ensembles, orchestras and jazz quartets. He currently lives between Montreal, Paris and New Orleans, where he is is singing songs from the birth of jazz, the innovative, ground- breaking repertoire of the 1920's & 30's.
Over the past decade, Bremner has been exploring New Cabaret, creating performance pieces that are an emotional collage of ideas and songs. These pieces have been performed across North America and Europe to critical praise: "A stunning theatrical achievement"—Edmonton Journal. "Duthie brings passion, power and conviction to the songs"—The Stage. "Captivating performances of Kurt Weill's songs... beautifully delivered with power and emotion"—Edfringe Review. "Duthie is a baritone with operatic scope; instead of mere interludes, the songs become weapons”—See Magazine, Canada. “And my god, does he ever sing. Bremner's performance is jaw-dropping-my jaw literally dropped"—View Magazine.
His first recording was devoted to his own personal obsession, the extraordinary songs of Kurt Weill. Bremner recorded sparse, heartfelt versions of Weill's repertoire, which stretches from the streets of 1920's Berlin to the dazzling lights of Broadway. For his second CD, he asked the question "What is a jazz standard?". As an answer, Bremner created swinging arrangements of songs from his youth, from the Velvet Underground, Talking Heads, Joni Mitchell and others, placing them side by side with more traditional jazz standards. His last recording is a 'concept album', an exploration of musical, emotional, sexual and political inspirations behind the idea of Cabaret, with new arrangements of songs by Weill, Hollaender, Noel Coward and Sondheim.
Bremner has performed in venues that vary from 3000 seat arenas in Tokyo, to improvised atelier-lofts in Paris and Edinburgh, to table-top stages in hard-drinking bars in the small Canadian towns along Lake Superior. He says that each had its own particular delights.
Bremner was born in New York and grew up in the USA and Canada. Singing is all he ever wanted to do. Every afternoon in New York, his family could hear him coming down the street as he sang his way home from school. He started singing with Punk Rock bands, moved on to studying Opera at McGill University in Montreal, and trained in contemporary vocal music at the 'Centre for New Opera' in Banff, Alberta. He has sung operatic roles by Mozart and avant-garde masterpieces like Maxwell Davies' 'Eight Songs for a Mad King'. Bremner has performed across North America and Europe in theatre and in concert, working with chamber ensembles, orchestras and jazz quartets. He currently lives between Montreal, Paris and New Orleans, where he is is singing songs from the birth of jazz, the innovative, ground- breaking repertoire of the 1920's & 30's.
Over the past decade, Bremner has been exploring New Cabaret, creating performance pieces that are an emotional collage of ideas and songs. These pieces have been performed across North America and Europe to critical praise: "A stunning theatrical achievement"—Edmonton Journal. "Duthie brings passion, power and conviction to the songs"—The Stage. "Captivating performances of Kurt Weill's songs... beautifully delivered with power and emotion"—Edfringe Review. "Duthie is a baritone with operatic scope; instead of mere interludes, the songs become weapons”—See Magazine, Canada. “And my god, does he ever sing. Bremner's performance is jaw-dropping-my jaw literally dropped"—View Magazine.
His first recording was devoted to his own personal obsession, the extraordinary songs of Kurt Weill. Bremner recorded sparse, heartfelt versions of Weill's repertoire, which stretches from the streets of 1920's Berlin to the dazzling lights of Broadway. For his second CD, he asked the question "What is a jazz standard?". As an answer, Bremner created swinging arrangements of songs from his youth, from the Velvet Underground, Talking Heads, Joni Mitchell and others, placing them side by side with more traditional jazz standards. His last recording is a 'concept album', an exploration of musical, emotional, sexual and political inspirations behind the idea of Cabaret, with new arrangements of songs by Weill, Hollaender, Noel Coward and Sondheim.
Bremner has performed in venues that vary from 3000 seat arenas in Tokyo, to improvised atelier-lofts in Paris and Edinburgh, to table-top stages in hard-drinking bars in the small Canadian towns along Lake Superior. He says that each had its own particular delights.