Episodes
| First Broadcast | Repeated | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 20190408 | 20190623 (R4) |
Welcome to the cabaret at Juwelia's gallery in Neuk怀lln, Berlin. Our hostess is at the window, a rose in her hair, waiting to see what happens. `Who knows what the evening will bring?` she is fond of saying. `I'm sitting here and I look good. That's all, no?`
It is a schmoozy-coozy salon, a space for burlesque, where shared fantasies become reality. Juwelia's paintings cover the walls, self-portraits with lovers in sunflower fields or by the bins at the local U-Bahn station. Her songs tell of a changing neighbourhood - `Once Bratwurst, now Champagne` - and of her life as the most beautiful woman in Berlin.
`The ways of my own life have led me elsewhere. But I hope that some young foreigner has fallen in love with this city and is writing what happened or might have happened to him there...` - Christopher Isherwood, Preface to The Berlin Stories.
We arrive at the Juwelia's with the guests to take our place at a tiny table and drink Sekt. At some point the show begins - songs, dancing, a lecture on capitalism delivered with the aid of two balloons. Guests step up from the audience to take a turn on the little stage. Our Isherwood-quoting narrator is a sound recordist, happy to put down the book and the broom and enter the world of the cabaret.
Produced by Phil Smith
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
A radio cabaret from Berlin. Come hear the music play at Juwelia's Neukoelln gallery.
| First Broadcast | Repeated | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 20190408 | 20190623 (R4) |