The Creative Martyrs are an absurdist cabaret duo who dress in white face make-up, bowler hats and black suits.Their material presents an array of songs soaked in political satire. Their image and content reflect cabaret performers from the Weimar republic in 1920s - a time considered responsible for the highest production of intellectual art in the history. However, this performance shows awareness of contemporary societal issues and is not strictly a remake of old cabaret.
Profound lyrics about oppression, the over-use of surveillance and censorship characterised the heart of their set. On stage, one of the duo accompanied his lyrics with a cello, the other fellow strummed a ukulele as they sang timeless songs about their marginal position in society.
The performance was entertaining and made good use of audience participation. They also had an impeccable sense of musicianship; the songs were melancholic and funny and the crowd’s response reflected this. Songs such as ‘Spare Part Baby’ and ‘Burn Those Books’ gained enthusiastic applause.
This performance offers more than entertainment though. It conveys how cabaret these days is not that different from the cabaret performed in the Weimar republic in 1922. Further, it indicates how observations and commentary on being oppressed (rather than more overt employments of political protest) can be effective tools for raising awareness . It will be interesting to see whether Cabaret as activism as seen in this performance will see a resurrection alongside more overt forms of political protest in this country.
Overall, exceptional cabaret for free from the multi-talented duo whose commanding performance makes them one of the strongest acts on the The Free Fringe.
