History Doesn’t Repeat Itself… Right? By Augustus Williams

Throughout the course of human life, we have always found a sense of revolution through music. It gives a voice to those who cannot speak and opens the ears of anyone who’s willing to listen. In How to Pack a Revolution in Your Suitcase, Bremner Fletcher sings us the stories of songwriters and revolutionaries from 1920’s Germany, a time and a place far, far away from where we are now. A time and place that certainly has no relation whatsoever to where we are now… at least that’s what we like to believe. This clever, mildly foreboding, and painfully optimistic cabaret reminds us how quietly history can go about repeating, right under our noses. The songs Fletcher shares with us, all written between 1923 and 1943, sound almost contemporary in their lyricism and humour. The piece is a great reminder of the power held in the hands of artists, and the ability that any ordinary person has to change the world. Although it’s true that the times we live in look disturbingly similar to Germany in the 40s, Fletcher urges us not to focus solely on the frightening parallels and instead remember - the artists won that fight against fascism. We can win it again.