The Weimar period remains revered as a pinnacle of artistic freedom. Sandwiched between two world wars, it produced unforgettable composers – Weill, Hollander, Eisler and Spoliansky – and performers such as Marlene Dietrich, Lotte Lenya and Emil Jannings.

Cinema was emerging as a serious art form. It was an era of risk, glamour and iconoclasm – and it was political.

Little wonder artists are harking back to Weimar now, as social norms rooted in decency and kindness erode, tyrants once again dictate moral standards, and ideologies we thought buried are revived by a new generation.

Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett. Photo © Craig Sugden

Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett channels that spirit through music, song and circus. It gleefully pushes boundaries of gender, nudity and taste, yet tempers its decadence with a pointed message about identity, feminism and the necessity of human connection.

Dieter presides as den mother, bookending the show with earthy vocals and a ferocious, glittering presence. Audience members dubbed ‘Beardy’, ‘Sexy Specsy’ and ‘Cowboy’ required little coaxing when Bernie — in full Marlene mode — invited them to grab some thigh and hoist her on stage as inelegantly as possible. Opening with Take Off Your Skin and Dance, she establishes the ethos: shed inhibition, shed shame. Her “children” follow with relish.

Tap dancer Caleb Cameron nods to the past in dapper attire reminiscent of the era, but his choreography evolves from golden-age musicality into contemporary gyrations edged with striptease. Jacqualine Furewy’s flame-throwing and sword-swallowing is pure spectacle, the heat rising palpably as fire and blade become provocatively entwined with anatomy.

Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett. Photo © Craig Sugden

Then there is Soliana, contorting herself into shapes that would make chiropractors wince. Her act is not novelty but mastery — a fierce celebration of female strength and discipline.

Drag artist Iva Rosebud weaponises absurdity: black tape, a strategically deployed cream pie and a willingness to expose the wobbly bits to delighted guffaws in the first half. Post-interval, Rosebud dispenses with even that modesty, relying only on pie remnants and bravado.

Yet it is aerialist Jarred Dewey who ultimately commands the night. Suspended above the crowd, he distils the daring, imagination and controlled risk that defined the Weimar spirit.

Dieter’s politics are explicit. Re-emerging in a dress emblazoned with “You Will Never Own Me” and draped in a “My Body, My Choice” cloak, she draws rapturous cheers – particularly from the women in the crowd – before delivering a tender rendition of Nick Cave’s Into My Arms. In that moment, provocation gives way to vulnerability.

The evening closes with a tribute to her East German Oma, A Is for Alcohol. Joined by her troupe, Dieter receives a standing ovation from an audience not merely entertained, but galvanised.

Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett plays in the Aurora Spiegeltent in The Garden of Unearthly Delights, Adelaide until 22 March and at Meat Market, North Melbourne, 17 April-24 May.