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An artistic forum that has fostered lively exchange, cabaret (German: Kabarett) is rich in connotations and variations. In the most simple sense of the word, a cabaret is a performing space. The French term signifies a pub—in the narrower sense since the late 19th century, a pub or intimate restaurant with a podium or a small stage, which in German is called a Brettl, the “little board.” Here, composers, actors, singers, and dancers can present their works to a paying bourgeois audience; in the least formal manifestations, spectators are also welcome to join the performance. Another meaning of the word defines a theatrical form and refers to a divided serving platter offering small amounts of many different items. As a performance art, in fact, cabaret is a program of distinct numbers in a variety of miniature forms: songs (often called Chansons, implying a more literary tone), monologues, sketches and one-act plays, improvisational dances, puppet shows, shadow plays, and even short films. A German synonym for cabaret is therefore Kleinkunst: small art, a miniature chamber art of intimacy and concentration. Such cabaret programs can have a disjointed character that verges on montage; until the middle of the 20th century, the performances were traditionally connected by a Conférenciér or master of ceremonies, who provided a witty, running commentary on the act, often spiced with references to current events. In its broadest sense, Kabarett and its adjectival form kabarettistisch are used to characterize satirical poetry, songs, and topical performance art with an informal, ironic, or slightly literary tone. Thus, modern German usage distinguishes between Kabarett, which implies an intellectual, critical performance, and Cabaret, which is used for purely entertainment-based shows, especially of an erotic nature.