KEY POINTS:
John Verryt is well known in performing arts circles for his stage sets; now the veteran theatre designer has his eye on a new role.
Verryt makes his directorial debut this week with a production as stylish as it is provocative. Berlin ventures inside the debauched German cabaret scene of the 1930s, exposing the politics and power behind the seemingly glamorous and sexually-charged facade.
The Silo Theatre - with its own seedy allure - will be transformed into a cabaret-style venue similar to that created for last year's festive season musical, Jacques Brel.
Having worked with many of New Zealand's top names in theatre, opera and dance during his 28-year career, Verryt has chosen a high-profile team, both on and off stage.
Michael Parmenter is the choreographer, Paul Barrett is the show's musical director and MC, and Elizabeth Whiting, Victoria Ingram and Andrew Malmo join Verryt on the design side.
Jennifer Ward-Lealand, Andrew Laing and Lana Nesnas, accompanied by a four-piece jazz ensemble, are the evening's cabaret singers with the score largely taken from Kurt Weill's darkly passionate compositions.
Weill is perhaps best known for the pop standard Mack the Knife which has been performed by everyone from Frank Sinatra to Westlife. Verryt says it is a more sinister composition than rousing past performances.
"Jennifer will perform Mack the Knife under a sick-looking light in quite a subdued fashion," he explains as he flicks through the work-book he has designed for the show.
The book, with Dada-style pictures, modified song lyrics, and ideas for costumes, has become Verryt's "bible" in recent weeks.
"Michael Hurst told me you can't get what you want until you know what you want so I started researching and getting enough information about what I was doing so I could say, this is what I want."
Verryt's elderly parents grew up close to the German border and joined the Dutch resistance during World War II. They shared their impressions of 1930s Germany with him and he has read countless books and articles about the Weimar Republic.
"The cabaret of the period took people into [the] sleazy and desperate world of the performers as their society was collapsing around them. It was an incredibly contradictory time."
Verryt, Ward-Lealand and Paul Barrett spent the early part of the year researching the music, choosing compositions which would create a musical journey, with song lyrics gradually becoming more biting to reflect Germany's descent into fascism.
From there, Verryt picked Dada as the design style he wanted and began further in-depth research into the period. He asked the singers to create personas and back-stories for their characters.
"In the last three months, Berlin has taken over my life," he says. "I need it to be good, and feel I have done a good job because I am testing myself.
'I was asked at the beginning of the year if I wanted to direct Berlin and I am not too old [Verryt is 54] that I didn't want to embrace a new challenge. You don't get better than Jennifer Ward-Lealand for a show like this so knowing people of her calibre were involved has been an enormous help."
Lowdown
What: Berlin, starring Jennifer Ward-Lealand
Where and when: Silo Theatre, Nov 10-Dec 16
