Cabaret versus Mogwai

One of my speculations about cabaret’s status as performance – it gets short shrift compared to
scripted theatre or even Live Art (which few people really like) – imagines that it is disregarded because it is the domain of ‘the other.’ It covers life-styles rarely represented in high drama, and has a larger proportion of female and LGBTQ performers than other genres. It adds the taint of musical theatre, thanks to the musical choices and aesthetic – Gary Barlow’s notorious ‘too cabaret’ comment really referred to the musty and cheesy melodrama of singers who would be happier belting out one of Lloyd Weber’s numbers than the diverse styles of the various artists who joined Frisky and Mannish in their protest song.

Debbie Chapman does come from that particular musical tradition. She has been in The Wizard of Oz and done her time on a cruise ship. Her show, Queen of Hearts, threads together her personal experiences and ‘heartfelt song’ in an attempt to understand why ‘she’s always the bridesmaid and never the bride.’

Chapman's influences are not mine - when I think of cabaret, I think of Dusty Limits seducing male members of the audience to sing along to Portishead. She references Judy Garland and Barbra Streisland. It's a reminder that cabaret isn't as monocultural as Barlow suggests and, like my abortive attempt to make up a top twenty of female performers for the Fringe, an example of how picking a broad genre to discuss or define rarely does justice to the individual artists.

TREMers in association with

Theatre Bench presents

DEBBIE CHAPMAN

QUEEN OF HEARTS

18th August 2013 - 18:10pm

19th-21st August 2013 - 15:55pm

Space Cabaret (V54) - Edinburgh Festival

Cabaret's strength is perhaps in its sense of play: Mogwai, by contrast, seem to be getting more and more serious as they age. I remember them as the cheeky chappies who called their first album Young Team: now they do art projects, like their soundtrack to Zidane, a film by Douglas Gordon (conceptual artist) about a footballer.

A quick blast from the press release helps make my point.

One of the most beguiling portrayals of an individual in recent cinematic history, Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait is a football film like no other. Using 17 cameras, the film tracks the legendary French midfielder Zinédine Zidane throughout a 2005 Spanish league match at Madrid’s imposing Bernabéu Stadium — on and off the ball, in the thick of the action and on its periphery. The result, from directors Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno, is a dramatic, hypnotic and deeply beautiful depiction of one of the world’s finest footballers performing on one of the sport’s grandest stages.


The film’s soundtrack was composed by Mogwai — and for the first time, the band will be performing it live alongside the movie in a series of three UK concerts beginning with the World Premiere of the event at Manchester International Festival ‘13. The Glasgow quintet have built a deserved reputation for the fearsome intensity of their live shows, and this show at the incredible new event site 220 Broomielaw offers a rare chance to see them in action in a very unique setting.





Sunday 21st July, 2013, 6pm
Venue: 220 Broomielaw, Glasgow, G1 4RU
£25 in advance STBF
Over 14's (over 18's bring ID for bar service)

I have been taking football quite seriously lately - mainly because Watford FC started giving it the old champagne style and almost got into the Big Corporate Division in England. But the respect afforded to Zidane in this film goes beyond my childish cheering for the Horns. It seems almost... hagiographic?

Compare and contrast - cabaret and post-rock. Can they learn from each other?