Melbourne's about to get a whole lot wilder.
The self-proclaimed “queen of Weimar punk”, Bernie Dieter, brings her notorious Club Kabarett to North Melbourne’s Meat Market for a strictly limited season from April 3 to May 11.
After smashing it in London’s West End, Japan, and headlining Perth’s Fringe World 2025, the German-born provocateur is set to transform the historic venue into a decadent den of iniquity that would make Marlene Dietrich blush.
Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett
- When: April 3 – May 11, 2025
- Where: Meat Market, 3 Blackwood Street, North Melbourne
- Tickets here
Explore Melbourne’s latest arts and stage news, features, festivals, interviews and reviews here.
If you’ve never witnessed Bernie in action, imagine a awe-inspiring combination of Lady Gaga and Frank-N-Furter, delivered with cut-throat wit.
“There is no fourth wall, no rules, and no seat is safe,” warns Dieter, who’s earned a reputation for her immersive approach to performance. Previous Melbourne appearances have sold out quickly, with five-star reviews across the board from publications including The Age and Sydney Morning Herald.
Club Kabarett isn’t just about Bernie, though she’s undoubtedly the sequin-covered, leather-clad heart of it. The show features a rotating cast of circus performers, aerial artists, fire-breathers and sideshow acts, all backed by her “debauched haus band” blasting out an intoxicating soundtrack of Berlin cabaret and punk rock rebellion.
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Born in Köln and raised on her grandmother’s tales of East German circus life (including being smuggled to the West hidden under piles of sequinned costumes), Dieter’s work draws heavily from the Weimar Republic era – a time of sexual freedom, gender fluidity and artistic experimentation against a backdrop of political upheaval.
“Club Kabarett is a joyous roller-coaster ride of creativity where all punks, freaks and weirdos can come out to play,” state the organisers, highlighting the show’s celebration of difference at a time when we could all use a bit more of that.
Since bursting onto the international scene, Dieter has conquered the Edinburgh Festival, stunned audiences from Berlin to Hong Kong, headlined BBC’s Live at the Electric, and hosted the Olivier Award-winning variety show La Clique in London’s West End.
Her Melbourne takeover promises to once again be one of the season’s most talked-about events in a venue that couldn’t be more perfect for her brand of mayhem. The historic Meat Market’s cavernous space will provide the ideal backdrop.
One moment she’s delivering a hauntingly beautiful ballad, the next she’s inducing riotous laughter with songs that blend satire, sexuality and social commentary. Previous Melbourne Fringe appearances have demonstrated her unique ability to break the fourth wall and create an environment where audiences become willing participants in the chaos rather than mere spectators.
Tickets for Club Kabarett go on sale from 8am on Thursday, February 27, and if past form is anything to go by, they’ll disappear faster than your inhibitions. Don’t say you weren’t warned.
For more information, head here.
This article was made in partnership with Bernie Dieter.
