Rampova - Kabaret Ploma 2 (ES)

"Kabaret Ploma 2: Let’s Socialize the Sequins" tells the first-person story of a music hall troupe that evolved into a cabaret act—the latter serving as a nod to Weimar Republic Berlin. Within our socio-political context, the core members shared a common past: adolescence and youth spent in Francoist prisons or psychiatric institutions, battered by the sinister Law on Social Danger and Rehabilitation due to our sexual orientation. It is a tale of political and LGBTQ+ activism, and of leading double lives—where one might be Salvador by day and Greta by night while living in a small town where everyone knows everyone else.
I recount how death—in the form of devastating, rapid-onset AIDS—brought them together; yet, do not be alarmed, for the story is told in true cabaret style. It is stripped of heavy-handed political messaging and presented as a star performance—complete with marabou feathers, boas, necklaces, Art Deco flair, and a strictly live feel. After all, Ploma 2 was the only cabaret troupe to perform not just in dive bars and theaters, but also in universities and—with the exception of the Canary Islands, Ceuta, and Melilla—in every single Spanish province.
Nor should you worry that the writing is overly intellectual. As I mentioned earlier, the language is as much in the spirit of cabaret as the photos and drawings illustrating this work. Long live frivolity—in the way Oscar Wilde "understood" it.