In a year when Australians have seen three prime ministers and an innumerable amount of political gaffes, The Wharf Revue team had no shortage of material. As usual, they deliver the goods.
Consisting of 15 sketches, with a total running time of 90 minutes, the evening opens with a performance of ‘The Abbott Family’, offering a dubious welcome to our new leader. It’s not all about the Coalition however; nobody escapes the Wharf Revue team’s gaze, as their net is cast as far as Cairo and the USA. Performance pieces are cleverly interspersed with filmed sequences, including ‘Rudd’s Revenge’ and a side-splitting sketch of Gina Rinehart and Clive Palmer singing about their mining greed to the tune of Celine Dion’s ‘My Heart Will Go On’.
Sydney Theatre Company regulars will relish ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Instead’, which perfectly captures the apparent indecision and existentialist crises torturing the Australian Labor Party.
From the beginning the cast of Jonathan Biggins, Amanda Bishop, Simon Burke and Drew Forsythe hardly miss a beat, as they tackle lightning-quick changeovers and roles that range from impersonation to dance. Bishop’s range is particularly impressive. She reprises her role of Julia Gillard in the guise of opera character Carmen, and plays the perfect whip-cracking, NRA-loving hillbilly before ending the evening as the sweet and innocent Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, in search of the heart of the ALP.
Simon Burke is an excellent mimic; his portrayal of Tony Abbott’s mannerisms is inspired, while his Bill Shorten morphs from Hamlet to Marius from Les Misérables. No further proof is needed of the calibre of long-term creators Biggins and Forsythe than that memorable Titanic scene with Palmer and Rinehart. Special mention must also go to the highly experienced lighting director Matthew Marshall, musical director Andrew Worboys and sound designer David Bergman. All three have been with the Revue for several seasons now and their collective contribution makes the technical aspects of the show flawless.
There are some weak points. The Dalai Lama sketch garners less applause than most, while some of the puns are a little overused. However the show moves at such pace that they become mere blips in an otherwise hilarious performance. Political news-addicts of all leanings should be prepared to laugh for days afterward.
Rating: 4 stars.
Sydney Theatre Company presents
Whoops! The Wharf Revue 2013
Written and created by: Jonathan Biggins, Drew Forsythe and Philip Scott
Musical Supervisor: Philip Scott
Lighting Design: Matthew Marshall
Musical Director & Accompanist: Andrew Worboys
With: Jonathan Biggins, Amanda Bishop, Simon Burke and Drew Forsythe.
Wharf 1 Theatre, Sydney
24 October – 21 December
