Date: Monday, April 24
Time: 7:00 PM
Admission: $8

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Opium - potent and evocative, it holds a near mythical place in the drug pantheon with its connotations of mystery, languor, and sinister beauty.

— “Opium: A Portrait of the Heavenly Demon,” Barbara Hodge

The intoxicating allure of the Chinese opium den conjures up a smoky, dreamlike vision of the fashionable demi-monde lounging languorously in lavishly decorated dens, whilst consuming the highly addictive le Dieu noir. Translucent vapeurs serpentines appear from long, strange pipes as the smoke lazily coils upwards, dancing hypnotically, before finally vanishing like an apparition in the night.

The reality was quite different, to say the least. In fact, most often opium dens were nothing special: dirty and cramped, sometimes with vermin, and almost always with no ventilation. A more luxurious experience (complete with female attendants providing a prepared pipe and refreshments) was available to those with status and money. During the height of the 19th century opium craze, more sophisticated consumers could partake in the ritual of opium smoking with beautifully designed paraphernalia. Opium pipes, opium lamps and other accouterments were crafted from the finest materials — ivory, jade, silver, cloisonne and porcelain.

Opium is a drug derived from the opium poppy or Papaver somniferum. It is believed to have been used as early as 3, 400 BC in sacred rituals, for pain relief and reducing distress, curing sleep disorders, in medicine and even as an anesthetic during surgery. But it also produces Euphoria. Delicious poppied Dreams.

Opium is also one of the oldest narcotics in the world with the alkaloid, morphine as its principal active ingredient. German pharmacist Friedrich Sertürner was the first to isolate morphine from opium in 1804/5. He called the isolated alkaloid "morphium" after the Greek god of dreams, Morpheus. Ironically, morphium was created to cure opium addiction, but ended up being even more addictive! After the American Civil War ended in 1865, a new problem was on the rise among veterans on both sides of the war. It was estimated that 400,000 soldiers were addicted to the morphine used to ease their pain while wounded. It became known as “soldier’s disease.”

Opium has been introduced to the body in many ways which include smoking, drinking eating, sniffing, rubbing and injecting. Opium was even sold in products such as cough medicine. These miracle syrups were often laced with opium, unbeknownst to the naive customer resulting in more opium addiction. By 1895, morphine and opium powders, like OxyContin had led to an addiction epidemic that affected roughly 1 in 200 Americans.

Opium was also the drug (or muse, if you want to be romantic) of choice for many celebrated 19th and 20th century novelists and poets including Oscar Wilde, Jean Cocteau, Charles Baudelaire, the occultist Aleister Crowley and illustrator Aubrey Beardsley. The 19th century opium epidemic (and other drugs like cocaine and ether) was a popular subject for poems, travel stories, detective novels and crime films - which only elevated the dark status of the beguiling Madame d’Opium and her magical power to release its victims' deepest desires and all inhibitions. 

In 1821, Thomas de Quincey wrote Confessions of an English Opium Eater, for which he was often accused of encouraging individuals to try opium, and criticized for giving too much attention to the pleasure of opium and not enough to the harsh negatives of addiction.  

Tonight, join Berlin cabaret performer Le Pustra as we focus on the compelling history and mystique surrounding the opium den, including the ritual of opium smoking and the devastating power of opium addiction, especially for artists and how it inspired their work, until the eventual ban on narcotics in the early 20th century. 

Madame Le Pustra is an actor, creative director, salonnier, artist's muse, occasional writer and has performed in European Variety and Cabaret since 2006.  Le Pustra is best known for his sumptuous and iconic cult 1920s Weimar Berlin inspired theater play, Le Pustra’s Kabarett der Namenlosenand playing “Edwina Morell” in the award-winning German Netflix series Babylon Berlin (Season 3-4).  In 2020, Le Pustra co-authored a chapter for the book “Circus and the Avant-Gardes: History, Imaginary, Innovation” published by Routledge. The chapter, entitled “Glam Clowning: From Dada to Gaga – A Conversation with Le Pustra '' explores the origin and reinterpretation of the Dada inspired vinyl suit made famous by German countertenor and New Wave artist, Klaus Nomi.

“Le Pustra can be best described as (but not limited to) an iridescent queer kunstfigur – a creation of beauty and living work of Surrealism-inspired art. From underground cabaret darling to accidental club kid-cum-avant-garde fashion muse, Le Pustra is a colorful shapeshifting conduit thriving on visual stimuli”. -  Dr Anna-Sophie Jürgens, The National Australian University.

 Social Media:

• Website: www.madamelepustra.com

• IG: www.instagram.com/lepustra

• Facebook: www.facebook.com/lepustra

• YouTube: Le Pustra Official - YouTube

The Opium Smoker (1913)  by N.C. Wyeth