In 2009, The Wharf Revue celebrated its 10th year with a Harry Potter-themed show centring Kevin Rudd as Head Boy. From memory it was uproariously funny and a fantastic introduction to political satire in live performance. Fifteen years later later audiences around the country continue to show up for The Wharf Revue, eager to see how writers Jonathan Biggins, Drew Forsythe and Phillip Scott will lambast the political happenings of the previous 12 months.
This most recent Revue, Pride in Prejudice, gets off to a bumpy start. The opening four sketches are slim on jokes and are a hop, skip and a jump away from being part of a Sky News rant about “wokeism”. When this reviewer attended, the audience became particularly tense during the Lidia Thorpe routine, which is closer to straight up sledging.
It’d be easy at this point to think the writing team have become curmudgeons and, the more left-leaning you are, the more likely they’ll come across as bitter about identity politics, but thankfully the rest of the show sticks to what’s kept The Wharf Revue going all these years: great impersonations, cheeky jabs and sound crystallisations of current political issues. This and a sincere a cappella number about The Voice referendum result keeps the show teetering on the tightrope between punching up (a term used to describe making fun of people with more power and influence than yourself) and punching down (vice versa).
Fans of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice may be disappointed to hear that the production only contains one sketch with the Bennet sisters. But for fans of satire, the Revue is worth attending if only to see its sketches about the Royal Family, Putin, Albo’s policy failure on the cost of living crisis, Joe Biden and AUKUS.
Mandy Bishop performs a fantastic number about the Liberals’ lack of gender equity to the tune of Stephen Sondheim’s ‘Ladies Who Lunch’. Her Jacqui Lambie impersonation gets a raucous laugh as soon as she reveals it to the audience. Biggins, Forsythe and David Whitney also do many spot-on impersonations and have equally strong vocals.
This package is wrapped up in wonderful costumes by Hazel and Scott Fisher that would look at home on high-budget dramas. The costume changes, wigs and make-up included, happen astonishingly quickly.
Read: Performance review: The Pool, Perth Festival
It’s a pretty schmick production all round and, bar the first 15 to 20 minutes, The Wharf Revue team continue to produce laugh-out-loud moments for their audience.
The Wharf Revue: Pride in Prejudice
Union Theatre, Melbourne
Writers: Jonathan Biggins, Drew Forsythe and Phillip Scott
Co-Directors: Jonathan Biggins and Drew Forsythe
Musical Director: Andrew Worboys
Lighting Designer: Matt Cox
Video Designer: Todd Decker
Sound and Video Systems Designer: Cameron Smith
Costume Designers: Hazel and Scott Fisher
Cast: Jonathan Biggins, Mandy Bishop, Drew Forsythe and David Whitney, with Michael Tyack
Tickets: $50-$70
The Wharf Review: Pride in Prejudice will be performed until 24 February 2024, before touring to various venues Australia-wide, including Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide Festival Centre, SA from 8-13 April and The Round in Nunawading, Victoria from 26-27 April.
