THE LAST DAYS OF MANKIND
The band is currently touring a 90 minute concert version of the music with accompanying projections by Mark Holthusen.
Award winning band The Tiger Lillies are bringing a new show based on the First World War masterpiece The Last Days of Mankind to Tipi Am Kanzleramt. Inspired by the anti war satire created by Austrian writer Karl Kraus, the songs show a society marching to self destruction.
The gypsy punk cult cabaret stars say the themes covered by the work are more relevant than ever in the light of the war in Ukraine.
Songwriter and singer Martyn Jacques says: “Kraus talks about all the horrible things that happen in war. The starvation of the poor and the children, the deserters running away and being executed. It is all very poignant.
“The nastiest people start to control everything and petty bureaucrats wield power. It’s a nightmare. “In many ways the war in Ukraine is more like World War Two than World War One because Putin is the aggressor. But you also have the propaganda - with people saying the Ukrainians are like Nazis which just isn’t true.”
Martyn Jacques said: “We have spent a lot of time in Ukraine and we are very upset about what is happening there.”
The Tiger Lillies, who have a huge following in Russia, have also made the decision not to tour there since the outbreak of war. Members of the group have collaborated with Ukrainian band The Hypnotunez and Ukrainian animators to produce an anti war video which lambasts Putin and his dreams of glory. The 22 songs in the production were originally written for a theatre production of Kraus’ epic masterpiece which was performed in Scotland, Germany and Poland in 2018.
“⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
“The strong sense of pain and injustice at the heart of the lyrics is palpable, even though it’s veiled in dark humour. The instrumental execution is flawless and it creates an atmosphere of melancholy so imbued with emotion that it leaves audience members visibly stirred.”
”
One of the original cast members, Antonina Romanova, is currently fighting on the front line in Ukraine. Antonina Romanova, speaking from Ukraine said: “I thank the Tiger Lillies for their constant support in these difficult times. This is very important for us and for me personally. You guys are incredible.”
Among the songs written by Jacques in response to The Last Days of Mankind are Die for your Country, War is Not Fair and the beautiful A Million Martyrs to Love.
Karl Kraus’ The Last Days of Mankind is an epic play written in Vienna during World War One. The text includes overheard conversations, newspaper reports and political discussions - reflecting the conversations happening among coffee house radicals during the war.
The entire play would take 24 hours to perform and was said by its author to be impossible to stage. A four hour theatre version, starring the Tiger Lillies, originating in Scotland, was directed by John Paul McGroarty and Yuri Birte Anderson and featured young actors from 11 European countries, including Ukraine.
“⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Kraus’ The Last Days Of Mankind fits in well with Jacques’ main subject areas: corruption, sex, filth, prostitutes and the depth of humanity’s darkest depravities and perversities. With obvious allusions to Brechtian works like The Threepenny Opera, the songs here draw heavily on the source material’s topics - albeit with no Martians - and his trademark snarl and falsetto voice are well-deployed whether sat at the piano or grinding away on his accordion.
”
Martyn Jacques said: “I’d never heard of Karl Kraus before being asked to take part in the project at Leith Theatre in Scotland. It is a remarkable piece of work and it inspired me to write a lot of new songs.”
As a songwriter Jacques is extraordinarily prolific and often writes songs in response to current events. During Covid he wrote two albums about the worldwide pandemic, the fear the suffering and the death. He has also written several satirical songs about President Putin and the war in Ukraine.
With their signature blend of chanson, opera and gypsy music the London-based Tiger LIllies defy definition. The group revel in the bawdy vaudeville traditions of prostitution, opium dens and the seedy life of the street musician.
The group began in 1989, winning two Olivier awards and a Grammy in 2002 for their work Shock Headed Peter.
The music for Last Days of Mankind was originally featured in a theatrical production of Last Days of Mankind at Leith Theatre in 2018, co-directed by John Paul McGroarty and Yuri Birte Anderson.
“
His sometimes eerie falsetto singing voice carries us back into that bleak period when the world seemed to be marching into oblivion.
”
REVIEWS:
“The strong sense of pain and injustice at the heart of the lyrics is palpable, even though it’s veiled in dark humour. The instrumental execution is flawless and it creates an atmosphere of melancholy so imbued with emotion that it leaves audience members visibly stirred.”
★★★★★ The Upcoming
“Kraus' The Last Days Of Mankind fits in well with Jacques' main subject areas: corruption, sex, filth, prostitutes and the depth of humanity's darkest depravities and perversities. With obvious allusions to Brechtian works like The Threepenny Opera, the songs here draw heavily on the source material's topics - albeit with no Martians - and his trademark snarl and falsetto voice are well-deployed whether sat at the piano or grinding away on his accordion.”
★★★★ Broadway World
“His sometimes eerie falsetto singing voice carries us back into that bleak period when the world seemed to be marching into oblivion.”
British Theatre Guide
“ At the heart of this is the Tiger Lillies, the pasty-faced junkyard cabaret trio led by Martyn Jacques, who becomes a grotesquely captivating MC of sorts. Their newly composed set of narrative vignettes add an even darker layer of malevolence to a show that leaves its audience quietly shellshocked by such a mighty theatrical feat.”
Herald Scotland (on Last Days of Mankind, the Leith Theatre production)
“ Martyn Jacques is a charismatic focus. Trudging between his piano and accordion like a man weighed down by supernatural dread – yet his voice is a molten cascade. The execution is impeccable throughout. Phenomenal.”
★★★★★ — The Guardian