By Jonathan Biggins, Drew Forsythe and Phillip Scott. Sydney Theatre Company.
The Canberra Theatre Centre. 15 September 2015
Australian comedian Michael Veitch was once quoted as saying, “I think that there is a hunger for comedy…So much of the world is presented to us as a kind of impervious block of information, and what satire does is say well, actually, no, you don't have to look at everything the way that society wants you to look at it. You can see the absurdities in it, you don't have to take it as seriously as they want you to take it.”
Nowhere in Australia does this ring truer than Canberra this week, with all the media saturation regarding the nation’s most recent leadership spill to absorb. And so it is impossibly perfect timing that The Wharf Revue (featuring Jonathan Biggins, Amanda Bishop, Drew Forsythe and Phillip Scott) comes sailing into town at the exact same time that people are screaming out for some comedic perspective on this turmoil.
But one cannot help but imagine the panic of the Revue’s writers as they rocked up to the ACT this week with polished script in hand, only to find out that political history is perhaps for the first time one step ahead of them. It is probably just as well then that this year’s The Wharf Revue contains a lot of recycled material from previous shows, in honour of its 15th anniversary.
Some old favourites packing the running sheet are Bob Hawke and Paul Keating up to their old tricks in the nursing home, Clive Palmer and Gina Rhinehart’s classic ‘Titanic’ duet, the last days of Fuhrer Howard, the paranoia infused Latham Diaries, and Julia Gillard being kidnapped by Kevin ‘Phantom of the Opera’ Rudd. As such, there is only a mere nod to the more up to the minute developments at Parliament House on offer.
However, there is still plenty of room for their unique brand of satirical treatment to be applied to 14/15’s more memorable events both here in Australia and abroad. The Greek Financial Crisis gets a brilliantly tacky Eurovision/Grease makeover (I’ve got bills, they’re multiplying), Clive Palmer and Dio Wang struggle to manage a two-person party with a vignette reminiscent of Who’s on First, and former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clarke, who is competing with Kevin Rudd for the position of the next UN Secretary-General, makes an appearance as lead singer of a side splitting Kiwi beatnik band.
Not surprisingly there is also a Bronwyn Bishop helicopter gag thrown in, as well as a nasal, hip hopping Christopher “the fixer” Pyne. George Brandis also graces the stage donning a pink tutu and slippers, flitting about to The Nutcracker and lamenting the state of the arts.
But it isn’t until the Les Miserables send-up (Les Liberables) that the audience get the fix they are no doubt anticipating – that of Tony Abbott’s fall and Malcolm Turbull’s uncomfortably fresh rise to power. It is unclear whether this is written in to the script at the last minute or if it is simply an astute prediction conjured up well before the fact – either way, the cast look like they are relishing the awkwardness of the moment.
As always, the cast are on point with their material and flawless in executing their well-honed impersonations. Having seen The Wharf Revue a number of times in past years, their talents never fail to impress. They would have to be some of the most diverse and self-sufficient bunch of performers in the country, with lustrous voices that can take on any range, chameleon-like abilities to transform into almost any personality imaginable, formidable writing skills and some musical genius to boot. What’s more, they work exceptionally well together as a team and radiate an admirable sense of camaraderie.
However, effusively praising this troupe that come from just across the border is clearly preaching to the converted in Canberra – if audience numbers and enthusiasm for the show are anything to go by year after year. In saying this, it isn’t the best production they have ever brought to town (Debt Defying Acts is still the pinnacle in my view), but rather ‘the best of’ The Wharf Revue this time around. But if this week is anything to go by, they will have plenty of rich new fodder to work with for the 16th instalment.
Deborah Hawke
When: 15 to 26 Sep
Where: Canberra Theatre Centre
Bookings: canberratheatrecentre.com.au
