The Wharf Revue: Looking for Albanese

The Wharf Revue may be the most consistently truthful accounting of national and international politics you’re likely to encounter in Australia.  Using unsurpassed creativity and acting talents to turn top politicians’ foibles and faux pas to the advantage of the public, Jonathan Biggins, Drew Forsythe, and Phillip Scott manage to make of any untruth a new truth; of any evasion an invasion; of any half-glass a robust mirror.

The Wharf Revue: Looking for Albanese took, as usual, the form of a series of satirical skits and songs (sometimes choreographed) relating to events of the past year — even of the past fortnight.  And, though the range and depth of its coverage amounted to a political yearbook, it was consistently amusing to hilarious rather than preachy or instructive.  Interspersed with occasional video interviews during costume changes, its small cast, using a detailed electronic set and interesting physical props, filled the stage with its presence and voices sounding naturally and uncannily like those we hear from Parliament House and its overseas equivalents.

Satirical lyrics to songs ranging from “Happy Days Are Here Again” (political optimism) to West Side Story’s “Jet Song” (political disillusionment) complementing discussions that reveal with precise wit a public figure’s every character flaw worth exploiting, this year’s Wharf Revue left nobody (as well as no policy) unscathed, from Pauline Hanson to Albo, from Jacqui Lambie to the U.S. Supreme Court’s newest, from Bob Katter and Barnaby Joyce to King Charles III.  And it managed to do so with breathtaking originality and flair and in fine singing voice.

Amazingly rich and diverse in both subject and musical form, The Wharf Revue: Looking for Albanese offers surprisingly light relief from frivolous political trips and serious political missteps.  Catch it as soon as you can; it’ll set you up for life.

John P. Harvey

Image: [L–R] Mandy Bishop and Drew Forsythe in The Wharf Revue: Looking for Albanese. Photographer: Vishal Pandey.

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