The Ghetto Cabaret

1941, a ghetto somewhere in Eastern Europe: A group of Jewish musicians, singers, dancers, acrobats and opera performers gather together to perform a cabaret for the rest of the residents. Some are professionals, others are anything but, but all of them are here to distract themselves from daily life and face down fear, hunger, death, disease and the threat of deportation by transmuting it into art. Written by third generation Holocaust survivor and singer-writer-director Galit Klas, and presented in conjuction with Kadimah Yiddish Theatre, the play incorporates Yiddish songs penned and performed in WWII ghettos, many of which haven’t been heard for decades. It’s directed by Gary Abrahams (33 Variations) and features Dimity Shepherd, who picked up a Green Room Award for her role in Melbourne Opera’s Otello, alongside Evelyn Krape (Hello, Goodbye and Happy Birthday) and Jim Daly (Bottomless).