The Dismissal - An extremely serious musical comedy

The Dismissal is a banquet of comedy, drama, politics, catchy tunes and even terrific dancing – a musical to feast on and celebrate.

After years of Covid delays, appropriately it opened at the Seymour Centre, which was born in 1975, the tumultuous year of the political battle.

When Gough Whitlam strode onto the steps of Parliament House in Canberra on November 11 to rage against being sacked, the comedian Norman Gunston was on the spot, and the creators of this work used this actual theatrical quirk of the day to have him narrate the whole story.

The man in the blue coat with toilet paper stuck to his shaving nicks was Matthew Whittet, and he was brilliant and whimsical as Wollongong’s ‘’second favourite son’’.

For those not familiar with the background and history of the event, there was a generous and quirky exposition of what led to the Whitlam Government. That was summarised as decades of Liberal Government, Victa mowers getting tangled on strips of lawn, and a Prime Minister too fond of diving into the ocean for his own good.

There are two villains in the story,  the man who sacked Whitlam, Governor-General Sir John Kerr – portrayed by Octavia Barron Martin as a pudgy social climber with a Lady Macbeth like wife (Anne Kerr).

And in the biggest surprise of the night, the scary Chief Justice Sir Garfield Barwick – the former Liberal cabinet minister pulling the strings behind the scenes - Peter Carroll almost stole the show, hilarious in an interpretive dance piece and terrifying with grim reaper like claws.

Other great characters in the drama Dr Jim Cairns (Joe Kosky), his principal private secretary Junie Morosi (Shannen Alyce Quan) and Rex Connor (Georgie Bolton) were larger than life. Nancye Hayes even made a delightful cameo as the voice of Rex Connor’s secretary.

The two central protagonists Gough Whitlam (Justin Smith) and Malcolm Fraser (Andrew Cutcliffe) gave charismatic and formidable performances, with Whitlam aided by some lovely writing and singing for Margaret Whitlam (Brittanie Shipway).

What was impressive is the nuance the writers gave to the character of Whitlam. This piece was not a hagiography to Gough. It was plain the mistakes he made in insulting and under-estimating Kerr, whereas Fraser was shown to be a much smarter and more ruthless political operator.

Another very clever device used by the creative team was having the Queen (Monque Salle) deliciously keep herself above the fray by singing over messages she did not want to hear. Her Majesty would not be so amused by the set of dancing metallic corgis which accompanied her.  

The music and lyrics from Laura Murphy are punchy and catchy. The opening song “Maintain Your Rage” sets the mood and sweeps the audience into Malcolm Fraser being sworn in as Prime Minister.

Another showstopper – beautifully choreographed with a chair - is “Why Would You Get Into Politics”, performed by Norman Gunston.

It is great news that the company has recorded a cast album which will be available soon.

The downside of a banquet is that sometimes there is too much food on the table and The Dismissal on opening night felt a fraction on the long side. Plenty of musicals have been trimmed and tweaked after opening night and gone onto great success.

The Dismissal is entertaining and brainy, and deserves a long run.

David Spicer

Photographer: David Hooley