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The Cabaret
This captivating book presents a uniquely comprehensive cultural history of cabaret, where the most radical of artists, poets, writers, musicians, and theater directors have gathered since 1881. Lisa Appignanesi takes us to the original cabaret—the smoke-filled rooms of the Chat Noir in Paris that served as a meeting place for the avant-garde and a laboratory of subversion against the establishment. She then follows the journey of the cabaret across Europe and to the United States, tracing each development in cabaret history to the present day.
This much revised and updated edition of Appignanesi’s classic work is enriched with materials that have become more accessible in the post-Soviet era. It also features a variety of new illustrations from both East and West. The book provides a lively look at all aspects of cabaret, where art and entertainment join to mock and provoke, and where radical artistic, literary, and political ideas have found expression for more than 120 years.
This much revised and updated edition of Appignanesi’s classic work is enriched with materials that have become more accessible in the post-Soviet era. It also features a variety of new illustrations from both East and West. The book provides a lively look at all aspects of cabaret, where art and entertainment join to mock and provoke, and where radical artistic, literary, and political ideas have found expression for more than 120 years.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
276 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1976
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About the author
Lisa Appignanesi
59 books97 followersaka Jessica Ayre
Elżbieta Borensztejn was born on 4 January 1946 in Łódź, Poland, the daughter of Hena and Aaron Borensztejn with Jewish origin. Following her birth, her parents moved to Paris, France, and in 1951 they emigrating to Canada. She grew up in the province of Quebec - first in a small Laurentian town, subsequently in Montreal.
She graduated from McGill University with a B.A. degree in 1966 and her M.A. the following year. During 1970-71 she was a staff writer for the Centre for Community Research in New York City and is a former University of Essex lecturer in European Studies. She was a founding member and editorial director of the Writers and Readers Publishing Cooperative. Through the eighties she was a Deputy Director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, UK, for whom she also edited the seminal Documents Series and established ICA television and the video Writers in Conversation series.
She produced several made for television films and had written a number of books before devoting herself to writing fulltime in 1990. In recognition of her contribution to literature, Lisa Appignanesi has been honoured with a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French government. In 2004, she became Deputy President of English PEN and has run its highly successful 'Free Expression is No Offence Campaign' against the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill. In 2008 she became President of English PEN. She writes for The Guardian, The Independent and has made several series for BBC Radio 4, as well as frequently appearing as a cultural commentator.
In 1967, she married Richard Appignanesi, another writer, with whom she had one son in 1975, Josh Appignanesi, a film director. They divorced in 1984. With her life partner John Forrester, she had a daugther, Katrina Forrester, a Research Fellow in the history of modern political thought at St John's College, Cambridge. She lives in London.
Elżbieta Borensztejn was born on 4 January 1946 in Łódź, Poland, the daughter of Hena and Aaron Borensztejn with Jewish origin. Following her birth, her parents moved to Paris, France, and in 1951 they emigrating to Canada. She grew up in the province of Quebec - first in a small Laurentian town, subsequently in Montreal.
She graduated from McGill University with a B.A. degree in 1966 and her M.A. the following year. During 1970-71 she was a staff writer for the Centre for Community Research in New York City and is a former University of Essex lecturer in European Studies. She was a founding member and editorial director of the Writers and Readers Publishing Cooperative. Through the eighties she was a Deputy Director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, UK, for whom she also edited the seminal Documents Series and established ICA television and the video Writers in Conversation series.
She produced several made for television films and had written a number of books before devoting herself to writing fulltime in 1990. In recognition of her contribution to literature, Lisa Appignanesi has been honoured with a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French government. In 2004, she became Deputy President of English PEN and has run its highly successful 'Free Expression is No Offence Campaign' against the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill. In 2008 she became President of English PEN. She writes for The Guardian, The Independent and has made several series for BBC Radio 4, as well as frequently appearing as a cultural commentator.
In 1967, she married Richard Appignanesi, another writer, with whom she had one son in 1975, Josh Appignanesi, a film director. They divorced in 1984. With her life partner John Forrester, she had a daugther, Katrina Forrester, a Research Fellow in the history of modern political thought at St John's College, Cambridge. She lives in London.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 28, 2019
This is quite an awesome introduction to the cabaret as a form of expression. It focuses on the 1920s and 1930s, since that was the heyday of this form of performance, but it starts in the mid 1800s and reaches as far as the early 2000s.
I found the first part, with the birth of cabaret in France, one of the most fascinating, though the 1920s and 1930s in Germany, with the strong social/political involvement of cabaret, is probably the most meaningful.
I loved that the book didn’t stop at the surface of this form of theatre (though it explore this too, how it was presented, where, who where the actors) but it went deep in the social meaning of cabaret. Where it came from, what influenced it, what it influenced and how it was interpreted in the different nations. It presents it in its different forms of social involvements (from dive to avant garde), giving a complex image of a complex phenomenon.
It’s an experience.
Recommended.
I found the first part, with the birth of cabaret in France, one of the most fascinating, though the 1920s and 1930s in Germany, with the strong social/political involvement of cabaret, is probably the most meaningful.
I loved that the book didn’t stop at the surface of this form of theatre (though it explore this too, how it was presented, where, who where the actors) but it went deep in the social meaning of cabaret. Where it came from, what influenced it, what it influenced and how it was interpreted in the different nations. It presents it in its different forms of social involvements (from dive to avant garde), giving a complex image of a complex phenomenon.
It’s an experience.
Recommended.
January 31, 2008
A very accessible non-fiction examining the history of the Cabaret. It is one of the more accessible academic studies I've found of cabaret that exist out there presently. Way more accessible than Berlin Cabaret for example, which seems to take the sex out of the sexiest of art forms and turn it into academic fodder full of spider webs. It was very fascinating to track the evolution of cabaret from its start in Paris to Berlin and then to the UK and America. It was interesting seeing the various mutations it has taken over time. It makes an excellent partner of Voluptuos Panic, which delves into the eroticism of the movement. This delves into the politics and the rebellion of it.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews