The Last Man Standing

The Last Man Standing is a rich opportunity to laugh, and laugh a lot, at the satirizing of one of our most treasured ‘holy cows’.  It is a motley, mottled mix of thoughts and ideas surrounding Anzac Day and our ever-burgeoning reverence for it.  

Writer Steve Vizard has gathered Anzac Day motifs and created a pretty wacky scenario pertaining to the creation of a unique Aussie variety concert (V. C.).  It would seem this is being done to further galvanize the community through celebrating the disastrous and devastating contribution of our forces at Anzac Cove. And yep there are puns aplenty.

Musically it has many of the best the hallmarks of Paul Grabowsky’s significant talent; subtle, mellow, moving and with songs that fit actors like gloves and support their particular skills and personal tones.  Some of the music is prerecorded but most is played live by violinist Ed Antonov and Andrew Patterson, who is the Musical Director, on the piano. 

At its heart The Last Man Standing reminds us we have fallen under a spell of politically driven hype and glorification of war.  Somehow we have been able to ignore or cover over the toxic personal and social costs endured over the last century.  And the homage we are now paying to Anzac Day is further venerating human sacrifice and in doing so masking the personal and cultural damage experienced.

However – vitally - this timely reminder is encased in a light and engaging narrative that sweeps joyfully along.

Vizard, ultimately, encourages us to look at soldiers as real and flawed people who have been put in impossible situations, from which they have emerged deeply scared.

The Last Man Standing is beautifully cast with actors we have come to admire and love, lead by Peter Carroll in an extraordinary tour de force.  He is the ‘last man’, Clarry Flint, a survivor of Gallipoli.  Carroll is one of those inspired actors who can fill a parody with complex believable characteristics and reach out from behind the proscenium to make an intimate connection with his audience.  William McInnes, as Colonel Raymond Hope the Bull of Kabul, embodies our stuffy masculine, military past, all respectability and suppression. 

Nicki Wendt portrays a Minister for Defence (and a number of other difficult portfolios), with very convincing aplomb.  Alison Whyte is Rachael Wiley, the producer’s producer. Toby Truslove shines as the master of ceremonies at the concluding spoof of a variety show.

Lighting by Matt Scott is mixed – sometimes shadowy, sometimes sharp and at times very consciously adding to emotional atmosphere and then at other times not particularly noticeable.  This seems to match the jumbled atmosphere of the whole that is inspired by the narrative and reinforced by the flowing sirection of Roger Hodgman and the efficient use of the revolving stage.

This first production of The Last Man Standing is a big, broad and confident, and, as expected, a delightfully funny work about who we are as Australians in relation to conservative popular culture and our reverence for Anzac Day.  Satisfyingly it also has the capacity to move and engage on a more intimate and personalized level.

Suzanne Sandow

Images (from top): Esther Hannaford and William McInnes;Nicki Wendt and William McInnes; Jensen Overend; Simon Maiden, William McInnes, Toby Truslove, Alison Whyte and Esther Hannaford. Photographer: Jeff Busby.

Cast

Clarry Flint – Peter Carroll

Ensemble – Nick Eynaud

Captain Skurry – Esther Hannaford

Doctor Morgan Cockburn - Simon Maiden

Colonel Raymond Hope – William McInnes

The Man – Jensen Overend

Ensemble – Monica Swayne

Elliot Fontana/Cam – Toby Truslove

The Minister for Defence – Nicki Wendt

Rachel Wiley – Alison Whyte

Violin – Ed Antonov

Credits

Director Roger Hodgman

Musical Director – Andrew Patterson

Set and Costume Designer – Richard Roberts

Lighting Designer - Matt Scott

Choreographer – Dana Jolly