I knew walking into Bernie Dieter's Club Kabarett that I was inevitably going to have a great time...
A glass of red, live music, full frontal nudity, rave reviews, you’d have to be deeply pessimistic to not be excited for Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett.
However, what I didn’t expect was to leave the venue with my hands aching from clapping, and my voice hoarse from cheering as if I’d just been to a week-long festival.
Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett
- Where: Meat Market, 3 Blackwood Street, North Melbourne VIC 3051
- When: 17 April – 24 May 2026, Tuesday to Sunday
- Tickets: here
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Bernie Dieter wastes no one’s time, you enter the space and realise this show starts the moment you walk through the doors. She transforms the venue, Melbourne Meat Market, capturing the essence of the Berlin underground circus and Kabarett scenes.
Performers take to the skies, seats and anywhere else they’d like in the venue, true to their theatrical selves; immersive feels like an understatement.
Kabarett, not to be confused with the French Cabarett, is the German take on the French-born style of theatre, a key difference being it leans much harder into the satirical and political elements, exploring these themes through the intimate lens the style offers.
Not to compare apples to oranges, but there truly is something distinctly impactful about this Kabarett show that stands out against others I’ve seen.
The show delivers on every single beat; live music, atmosphere, stage design, quality performances woven into the unabashed political message of the show.
The impassioned and skilled performers embody the spirit of Club Kabarett, raising the emotional stakes lifting the audience to showstopping peaks.
Dieter is not afraid to play with our emotions. You’ll be belly laughing at a raunchy drag burlesque number, courtesy of local queen Iva Rosebud. Enthralled in the expressive tap routine of Caleb Cameron.
Squirming in your seat at the startling feats of contortion by Soliana Ersie, flame and knife routine of Jaqueline Furey and suspension routine of Melissa Lee.
Dieter herself leaves you teary eyes as she delivers a heart-wrenching ballad alongside aerial trapeze artist Jarred Dewey. All performed to the charismatic musicianship of punk group The Haus Band. Every moment is a highlight in its own right.
Featuring the acts of seven different performers, each an expert in their craft. The show has a radical punk spirit, each talent radiating in the red light, embodying their acts whilst fully commanding the attention of every single eye in the room.
This show leaves you feeling defiant and inspired, as cliche as it sounds, seeing talented people doing what they love proudly, no matter how niche, is reinvigorating for the soul.
Unfiltered and unconcerned with being perceived as too political, too queer or too feminist. In a time that live theatre has been struggling to stabilize itself post covid and post funding cuts, it’s no small feat for a show like this to exist with the reach that it has.
If you can, go see this show. It hits all the elements of Kabaret and Burlesque that you could want and more. The level of talent, emotional beats, political message and yearning for human connection will leave you inspired.
Don’t be skeptical, don’t worry about getting the best seat in the house, just go see it and be inspired because of it.
For more information, head here.
