REVIEW:
The Gospel According to Paul
Arts Centre, Melbourne
Season runs until November 1. Get tickets here.
***
The Gospel According to Paul is the brainchild of Jonathan Biggins who slips into the gait, speech patterns and vernacular of Keating to perfection.
Love him or hate him, to paraphrase one of Keating’s famous quotes he knew how to “do them slowly” when in the chamber of Parliament. Keating strode the Australian and international stage as PM of Australia for four years from 1991-1996. In that time he shook up the landscape with visionary plans to bring Australia closer to Asia and acknowledging the importance of our country’s indigenous people through his powerful Redfern speech, all the while laying waste to his political foes like Liberal leader John Hewson who couldn’t keep up with his progressiveness.
An avowed Republican, he earned the ire of the British press and was dubbed the ‘Lizard of Oz’ when he had the temerity of putting his arm on Queen Elizabeth’s back in a meeting at Buckingham Palace.
With this colourful personal backdrop, a stage resembling a conservative room styled in the trappings of 1940s-like comfort, Biggins arrives on the stage to the strains of Keating’s favourite composer, Gustav Mahler. Aided by a small screen showing images reflecting Keating’s life, Biggins launches flawlessly into a rollicking re-telling of the Keating years from a child in Bankstown in Sydney, to leaving school at 14, managing rock band The Ramrods before finding his home in the Labor party.
Lending the monologue variety and contemporary references, Biggins reflects entertainingly on a rollcall of Liberal leaders, The Greens and One Nation, passing judgment on their performances.
Over the course of 90-minutes, Biggins recounts the rich life of Keating poking fun at his contemporaries Bob Hawke and great rival John Howard and puffing up his achievements, such as introducing superannuation.
While Biggins’ monologue is the spine of the show, he punctuates it with two amusing musical numbers changing the lyrics to suit the Keating narrative.
There have been few politicians that captured the nation’s attention like Keating, whether as the country’s treasurer over eight-and-a-half years, or four as PM where he shone brightly. As a boy from the suburbs with a love of French clocks, Zegna suits, Mahler and a memorable vernacular, Keating provides rich pickings for a show that lovingly manages to package up the highs and tenderly reflects on the lows to present a highly energetic and memorable performance.
By Stephen Corvini
