REVIEW | Fabulett 1933, Drayton Arms Theatre

★★★★

Reviewer - PENNY

*Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review.

Following critically acclaimed runs at London’s Canal Café and the Edinburgh Fringe, Fabulett 1933 has arrived at the Drayton Arms ahead of a run at the Brighton Fringe.

The play’s action takes place on the closing night of the titular Fabulett Club, considered to be one of Berlin’s most depraved nightspots. Despite the fact that homosexuality was officially still illegal in Germany, in the years after the First World War Berlin’s clubs became a safe space for members of the LGBTQ+ community. However, with the rise of the Nazis, all this was to change, and in February 1933 the closure of all “venues that promote immorality” was ordered and their patrons were forced to hide their true selves, in fear of persecution.

The performance starts with the tableau of a German soldier under fire. As the lights come up, he changes out of his coat and reveals himself as Felix, the MC of the Fabulett and our narrator for the next hour. It is easy to make comparisons to the MC character in Kander and Ebb’s Cabaret, but this is a much more raw and unpolished performance and it is very effective in establishing Felix as a character in his own right rather than a copy of his more famous counterpart.

Played by Michael Trauffer, who also created the piece, Felix is a gentle and sensitive host, a camp and flamboyant character who charms his audience with a quick quip or a risqué song, but with a constant sense of sadness never far from the surface. He tells the story of the closure of Berlin’s clubs, underlining how great a loss this will be to both his freedom and that of the “friends, lovers and acquaintances” he has met through the Fabulett. At the same time, we have flashbacks to Felix’s childhood, showing the rejection he experienced then due to being “different” and the feeling he has grown up with that he needs to stay invisible – the desire for visibility being a recurring theme throughout the piece.

As you might expect from a play set in a cabaret club, a lot of the story is told through musical numbers – both original compositions by Trauffer and songs from the period. I found the latter more effective than the original numbers, particularly “Masculinum-Feminium” – which, although written in 1921, is as relevant today with its questions around gender identity. Trauffer is not the strongest singer but performed the songs with passion and a heightened sense of emotion that was just right. Unfortunately, there were a lot of sound problems during the show, with mic failure meaning that Trauffer was perhaps straining to be heard, taking some of the light and shade out of this aspect of the performance.

There is a lot packed into this one hour show. While we count down to the Fabulett’s closure, Felix talks about some of the characters who are regular visitors to the club – including high-profile supporters of the LGBTQ+ community, as well as very senior authority figures, leading Felix to naively assume at the start of the show that they have to be on the right side. Sadly, we all know how that will end. In a weaker script, this could come across as a history lesson, but as we also learn about Felix’s childhood and traumatic experiences during the First World War, it becomes a much more personal and human account of the events of February 1933.

Fabulett 1933 has an incredibly important message – one that is reinforced when Trauffer breaks character at the end of the play to speak to the audience – current events show we haven’t learned from the past and it’s vital that everyone stands together to make sure that all of our lovers, friends and acquaintances are not forced once again to become “invisible”.

Fabulett 1933 runs at the Drayton Arms until Saturday 11th February and then at the Brighton Fringe from 18th – 21st May.