“The wordsmithery of the team is always a treat…there are laughs a plenty…I was hanging out for some sharper teeth to the satire that I recalled from Revues gone by.“
Kate Gaul
Seymour
There’s only a couple of things you need to know about Soft Tread’s “The Wharf Revue: Pride in Prejudice” – it’s created by the irrepressible talents of Johnathan Biggins, Drew Forsythe, and Phillip Scott. Scott no longer appears onstage and is replaced at the keys by Andrew Worboys and onstage by David Whitney. Mandy Bishop makes up the quartet onstage. The Revue itself is 24 years old, having started life as a staple of the STC and now going it alone.
So that’s four things. Oh, and that the satiric Revue tours extensively following the Sydney season after an out-of-town premiere in Canberra. Well, that’s five things — now you’re in the zone.
Here’s some more: the show is handsomely produced with great costumes, wigs, and assorted props; there’s video content to cover the numerous costume changes as a parade of caricatures of the well-known take to the stage. Anthony Albanese, Jacqui Lambie, Caroline Kennedy, Joe Biden, and Peter Dutton are just several of the memorable appearances. Biggins is an incredible mimic and his Albanese impersonation (in this version as a Robin Hood), the wafty King Charles visited by his dead ex (a perfect Bishop) and dead mum (played in a star turn by Forsythe), and the repulsive crook Trump are gold plated thigh slappers. Forsythe impresses with an hilarious Joe Biden, David Whitney as Peter Dutton. Mandy Bishop is always outstanding, and the Senator Jacqui Lambie Playschool sketch is a delight (with Whitney as David Pocock).
As always music is a huge part of the show. Whitney has great chops and Bishop always shines. The operatic spoof is a highlight but re purposing Sondheim tunes and changing the words feels old hat. The opening scene is a spoof on Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” as the team deliver insights into Australia in Austen-English. Biggins is a crusty old Mrs Bennet, Forsythe and Whitney play a couple of daughters (one is a trans character) and Bishop plays a delicious Mr Darcy. The wordsmithery of the team is always a treat. I enjoyed the literary allusion which tells you more about me, I think. At 90 minutes the entire Revue feels like extended television – and indeed you need to watch a lot of TV to get many of the jokes and it occasionally feels like it has had its day.
I was hanging out for some sharper teeth to the satire that I recalled from Revues gone by. It could be that the writers are reflecting our more conservative times, or the form could be showing its age. Evidenced by the night I attended there are laughs a plenty if this is for
you.
Kate Gaul, Theatre Now
