HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT

Berlin, 1932. Amid chaos and Hitler's rise, Bavarian actress Monika Varády seeks stardom. As Nazi propaganda seizes the theatre, Monika finds herself in love with a Bolshevik Jewish actor – and dangerous attention. To survive, she must outwit power, protect her beliefs, and resist the regime's attempts to rewrite German theatre and culture...

- J.R. Lonie

A playful spotlight searched the smoky air until a sparkling face appeared in its tiny beam, as if by magic. With eyes of cornflower blue and topped by sculptured curls of God-given gold, La Monique, as Monika styled herself, was the only woman in the Lucifer Bar. She was not, however, the only one in a dress. It was that kind of place.

‘Tonight,’ she called out in a lusty voice, half sung, half spoken, grabbing the attention of the young men in the audience. ‘I’m looking for a man, a real man.’

Her tiny band kicked in and her audience cheered. In their caps, rough coats and trousers held up by braces, these were the regulars, the hustlers who made the Lucifer famous. The evening’s commerce was put on hold.

'Me, me,' some called out. Monika was in on the joke. How could she not? If she kissed one of them, their lips often kissed hungrily back.

'I've had it with boys,' she sang, 'I want a man whose heart glows with love. A man with fire in his eyes. A man who wants to kiss and knows how.