Edinburgh Fringe 2025
My Marlene
Transforma Theatre
Genre: Cabaret, Interactive, Theatre
Venue: Assembly Checkpoint
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
My Marlene, a one woman show as Marlene Dietrich, dives into the contradictions that made Dietrich a legend: a selfless war hero, an elegant housefrau in tuxedo tails, a romantic with a parade of lovers and a gender-fluid icon who wore masculinity and femininity interchangeably – both on and off screen. This immersive, confessional theatre experience transforms the audience into the allied soldiers Marlene Dietrich entertained in World War II as an act of defiance against Nazism. Told through confessional storytelling, Weimar cabaret flair and song.
Review
My Marlene is an immersive tribute to an icon who never stopped performing – even when bombs were falling and the lights went out. A woman who was fierce, glamorous, and defiant.
Marlene (Tjaša Ferme) bursts in to the cabaret style venue, heels clicking. Ferme inhabits Dietrich with charm, wit, and presence, drawing us straight into her world of smoky Berlin bars, Hollywood lights, and battlefield cabarets. Initially we are in a cabaret bar, later we become the soldiers of 1944, awaiting our evening’s entertainment in a makeshift army tent.
Ferme’s Dietrich tells her story through sharp monologue, well-timed anecdotes, and humour – punctuated by power cuts, bombs, and the occasional cheeky audience challenge. There is a little gentle participation, who can cheer the loudest and, on a more serious note, reading out telegrams sent to her about film roles and her ‘duty’ to support the Reich – something she steadfastly refused to do.
With strong support from her talented on-stage pianist, Nathaniel Shaffer, the show is musically rich, and peppered with the songs that made Dietrich a legend. From ‘Lili Marleen’ to‘Falling in Love Again’, Ferme delivers each with emotional nuance and vocal flair.
Director Ana Margineanu has ensured that Ferme makes use of every inch of the stage as well as much of the cabaret area as well. With no set, few props and some deft costume changes Ferme brings Dietrich’s gender fluid world to life. We follow her journey from Berlin’s Weimar decadence to her breakout in The Blue Angel (cast as a ‘fallen woman’ – a typecast that followed her to Hollywood), her wartime efforts selling bonds and performing on the front line, and her refusal to return to Nazi Germany. Along the way, she boasts of her many lovers (one of the Kennedys, she hints – a little additional research suggests this may have been Kennedy’s plural!), her love of cooking, her knack for reinvention, and her grit in mastering English – her struggles with pronunciation offering one of the show’s most enjoyable and human moments.
My Marlene is more than a biopic – it’s a call to resistance, a celebration of survival through glamour, grit, and sheer force of will. Confessional, funny, and often moving, this is an excellent solo performance from Tjaša Ferme. A thoroughly enjoyble evening of Weimar sparkle, smart storytelling, and evocative songs.
