Left - Amanda Bishop & Jonathan Biggins. Cover - Phillip Scott. Photos - Tracey SchrammI have a confession to make: I’ve never before been to The Wharf Revue, but you know what piqued my interest to finally give this STC warhorse a go? I’d like to say it was my growing appreciation of the comedic virtuosity of Drew Forsythe, or an ever-more disaffected attitude towards national politics given the major electoral turmoil of the past year… but the real reason was the cracking poster. Depicting Julia Gillard as Little Red Riding Hood facing off against the Big Bad Wolf wearing rather familiar budgie smugglers, set amidst a beautifully rendered forest straight out of a gothic fairy tale, the extremely eye-catching and funny image completely grabbed my attention.
Unsure of exactly what to expect from as broad a format as a “revue”, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the show was almost exactly in the vein of the various faculty revues I used to attend at university, chiefly sticking to lifting the tunes of highly familiar pop songs and musical numbers and marrying to them satirical new lyrics on a topical theme. Unlike the broader pop-cultural grab bag of those old uni revues, this Wharf Revue is almost entirely about politics, albeit sometimes in the broader social sense. Aimed at an audience that might best be described as “ABC viewers” (take that as compliment or insult as you will), this show will be a delight to those who follow the news and have at least a moderate engagement with state, federal and international politics, but probably less so for the more disengaged or pop-culture obsessed. Those who don’t know Keneally from Ke$ha would likely find the content a bit mystifying.
The cast and co-creators are uniformly uproarious, with every sketch taking gleeful aim at the various foibles and follies of their targets, each playing many different parts. The regulars of Forsythe, Johathan Biggins and Phillip Scott take on everyone from Frank Sartor to Angela Merkel with wicked relish. Their witty, often hilarious lyrics are deftly married to easily recognisable tunes, making for great musical numbers on everything from the woes of Ireland’s financial strife done like The Pogues as Eurovision contestants, or a scrumptious attack on the travesty of Japanese “scientific” whaling staged as The Mikado. Almost every skit hit the mark, with slight exceptions being the German and American sketches, which were a bit obvious but crowd-pleasing nevertheless, but being obvious isn’t necessarily a bad thing anyway, as demonstrated by the bravura depiction of Mark Latham hosting Hey Hey with a stream of violent abuse towards Ozzie Ostrich and Dickie Knee.
Definite highlights included a mournful commiseration between Kevin Rudd and Bob Hawke, lamenting their common ground of both being rolled by their deputies for the top job, and a clever parody of Under Milk Wood starring the populace of Julia Gillard’s Welsh birthplace. Perhaps the standout of the whole show was the early centerpiece and titular subject, that of Gillard as Little Red Riding Hood making her way through the perilous dark forest of federal politics. The three blokes who pen and perform the Wharf Revue year in and year out are apparently always joined by a rotating fourth performer to take on (most) of the female parts, and this year they were blessed with the considerable talents of Amanda Bishop, who could not only go toe-to-toe with them, but was frequently in danger of stealing the show. This was never more so than in her dead-on portrayal of Gillard which, coupled with the witheringly funny writing, created an early show-stopper.
It did, however, underline an interesting subtext running through the show. Without being overly polemic, the production certainly was detectably left-leaning, and yet while the satire criticised Gillard, Rudd and Sussex Street at great length, Liberal politicians were all but absent except for the solitary and blandly generalistic spoof of Tony Abbot in what was probably the weakest number in the show. Is Abbot simply too difficult to lampoon beyond the parameters of basic caricature? Or is the rage against the rightward drift of Labour simply a more aggrieved subject for these comedians? Who knows, but the deeply cynical impetus behind much of this Revue’s material seem to underline the zeitgeist of renewed political disaffection held by so many before and especially after this most recent election. On that level the show certainly captures the current mood well.
Although perhaps not for absolutely everyone, The Wharf Revue Not Quite Out of the Woods is a deliciously irreverent roast for those who like their politics incorrect and their politicians soundly mocked.
The Wharf Revue
Not Quite Out of the Woods
Written and created by Jonathan Biggins, Drew Forsythe and Phillip Scott
Venue: Wharf 2, Sydney Theatre Company, Pier 4 Hickson Road, Walsh Bay
Dates: 6 October - 19 December 2010
Tickets: $30 - $60
Bookings: (02) 9250 1777 | sydneytheatre.com.au
Melbourne
MTC Theatre
5 - 29 January 2011
