Darlene Mietrich, Volupte Lounge and Bistrotheque, London 2007

Time Out Critics Choice 4 times in 2007

Ever wondered what would have happened to a character like Marlene Dietrich if she had not been discovered? Fiona Staniland's apocalyptic post-Weimar show is likened to an evening with the ghosts of 1933 Berlin just after Hitler came to power. And ghosts is exactly what they were all about to become. The show starts off with Lili Marlene, evocative of Germany's glory heroic years in the trenches of WWI. Light hearted jokes are made at the expense of the mini orchestra who we learn are made up of a gypsy, a Jewish jazz fan, a Frenchman and a homosexual MD. But as the night progresses and with the appearance of a Nazi officer, these lightness turns to dark and one indeed has the feeling that these ghosts met with quite unhappy ends. That said, the show is hugely entertaining, if haphazard, but that is part of Darlene's charm, which lends a poignancy to her story.