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I must have seen them a hundred times between the age of 12 and 21, at the very source, the BE (Berliner Ensemble) in East Berlin. NH: Yes, I met many awesome members of The Berliner Ensemble, for example Hilmar Thate, who played Goebbels, and Eckehard Schall, who played Hitler, in Brecht's play Der Aufhaltsame Aufstieg Des Arturo Ui ('The Resistible Rise Of Arturo Ui'). Other than your stepfather, have you ever had the opportunity to meet any of the classic Kabarett artists? He did not only cabaretise German situations. His plays and songs were aimed at situations that occur internationally. His theatre and cabaret was about many different historical world events. NH: Well, in my opinion, even though Bertolt Brecht was born in Germany, his work was international. What are Kabarett's distinctly German aspects, which make it different from, for example, French Cabaret or British Music Hall? It influenced rock music, and certainly also punk rock. Life ITSELF is a cabaret! Of course, the old tradition of political cabaret inspired many artists, from all over the world. Kabarett artists often dealt with political themes and were strongly associated with underground resistance against the Nazis. Your early works, for example 'Du Hast Den Farbfilm Vergessen' ('You Forgot The Colour Film'), often involved anti-establishment satire. And as a teenager I learned my skills from the world's bestest political Cabarettieres like Brecht and all the amazing Brecht actors and singers: Wolf Biermann, Wolfgang Neuss, but also from great artists like Karl Valentin, Charlie Chaplin, Heinz Rühmann, Theo Lingen, Heinz Ehrhard, Trude Herr, Lotte Lenya, Gisela May and many others.
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We were inspired by the West German cabaret icon Wolfgang Neuss, who had also worked together with Wolf Biermann. During my teens I was a member of a secret cabaret group in East Berlin called Die Knoblauchraspel ('The Garlicsqueezers'). NH: It all started out very early in my life. Was the Kabarett scene a direct influence on you as a young artist or is it an interest that developed later? Even in times of Stalinism, his work survived all sorts of control freak-ish times. Back in Germany, he felt ever so lucky to get his own theatre going. And I learned that Brecht also had hard times during the McCarthy era in the USA: he was questioned about his work in a public hearing trial. NH: Yes, of course, for example my stepfather Wolf Biermann was so censored that he was not allowed to perform in public. You grew up in communist East Berlin, where Kabarett was officially tolerated, but carefully censored. It's a happy treasure hunt: you can start with Googling Brecht, Weil, Biermann, Neuss.
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NH: I think people have to either seek for it, or be introduced to it via friends, family and social networks. Is Kabarett a tradition that every German person grows up knowing about, or is it something you actively have to seek out?