HILDEGARD/KNEF Set for 2015 Melbourne Fringe Festival

Famously criticised by Ella Fitzgerald as "the greatest singer in the world without a voice", German chanteuse and film star Hildegard Knef will find her voice anew in a one-woman-show by April Albert from Wednesday 16 - Saturday 26 September, 2015 at Northcote Town Hall as part of the 2015 Melbourne Fringe Festival.

Hildegard Knef was an actress, singer and internationally best-selling author. She was known for her iconic deep, husky voice and created a new style of singing in which she spoke rather than conventionally sang the lyrics. Her career began to take off in the 1945-49 post war German 'rubble films', which were set amongst the ruins of Germany's devastated towns and cities. The 'rubble women' (Truemmerfrauen), were the women who helped clear and reconstruct the bombed out cities and German nation.

Much like the rubble women, Knef became a national symbol for both the city of Berlin and the German nation and bridged the period between dictatorship and democracy, its reconstruction and economic regeneration. However, this made Knef both loved and hated by the German public; she was frank about her wartime involvement, including following her Nazi lover to the frontline against the Russians, at a time when many were still in denial.

Hildegard Knef represented both the vulnerability and impressionability of youth (she was only 13 at the breakout of WWII) and the female warrior - a woman fighting for survival in wartime, throughout her ambitious career and finally through her fear of ageing in an unforgiving industry and her long battle with cancer.

Knef's story is paralleled to creator April Albert on stage in this original one-woman-show featuring many of Knef's most popular songs performed live. From Albert's own personal trauma, to her present day challenges in showbiz, the similarities between the life stories of these two women, although separated by time and space, will highlight that shared human experiences can transcend cultures, histories and geography.

A performer of international repute, Albert grew up in the US and Germany before settling in Australia, studied at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, and has performed on stages around the world, including the USA, Germany, the UK and Australia.

HILDEGARD/KNEF, is presented by Darebin Arts' Speakeasy program of independent theatre, the home of cutting-edge performing arts north of the Yarra. Presenting a year-round program of new, exciting and dangerous theatre productions from around Australia, Speakeasy seeks to enliven the greater Melbourne area with world-class art and performances.

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For tickets and more information darebinarts.com.au/speakeasy or call 9481 9500.

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