★★★★☆ The Wharf Revue offers a welcome dose of political satire and budgie-smuggling hilarity.

Wharf 1, Sydney

October 20, 2016

Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott still has his fans – well two, anyway, in the latest Wharf Revue, Back to Bite You. And very fetching they are too: think red feathers paired with budgie smugglers. In a hysterically funny routine, Jonathan Biggins plays Abbott in burlesque mode, complete with goanna mouthed-grin: an image that will be hard to erase.

Jonathan Biggins as Tony Abbott. Photo by Brett Boardman

It’s one of the funniest moments in the show along with Drew Forsythe’s impersonation of Pauline Hanson (“the Oxley moron”), but there’s plenty more to savour in this latest outing by the Wharf Revue team.

Writers and creators Biggins, Forsythe and Phillip Scott have been skewering politicians of every persuasion for 16 years now, mixing sharp political satire with lowbrow spoofs and musical merriment in a show that arrives each year like a welcome tonic in the face of so much that is depressing about the world.

Back to Bite You is no exception. It is equal parts clever and silly but also pushes the boat out with a provocative, unsettling song about terrorism, which Scott sings to the tune of Be Our Guest from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. There’s also a jaunty number about the same-sex plebiscite (or “slave-sex” plebiscite as it is here) using the melody of A Paradox from Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance.

The show begins in Ancient Rome where various factions within the Coalition are plotting and doing deals. Corius Bernardius believes that the Coalition’s core conservative values are being compromised by “the tyrant of Wentworth” (who doesn’t appear) and would like to see the return of Antonius Abbottus, a man of the people who eats raw onions “as they do”.

Meanwhile, Pompous Brandis is trying to win the support of Pauline Hansonus and Lambius the Unwashed, who respond with a version of I’m a Woman, W.O.M…. (however you spell it). Joining the fray are Clueless Katteris, Eric Abbetus and Julianna of the Vacillating Virgins among others, not to mention Hinchicus in leather gladiator gear. It’s not only witty but clever, informed, spiky satire, and most of the impersonations are pretty spot-on.

Jonathan Biggins, Phillip Scott and Drew Forsythe. Photo by Brett Boardman

Other sketches include a My Fair Lady spoof in which Henry Higgins gives Bill Shorten an elocution lesson, and an alliterative guide around the Middle East by US military man Dick Tingle, with puns aplenty. Greens Leader Richard Di Natale gets a Bob Fosse makeover with a song and dance number called The Power of Green choreographed to the tune of The Rhythm of Life, while MP Kevin Andrews is presented as “a Bitter Vic”.

Forsythe also revisits the character of Bob Ellis, who died in April, in a gently funny, poignant sketch in which he joins other recently departed Australians like Martin Sharpe, Neville Wran, Wendy Hughes and Richard Neville in the hereafter.

A skit about the Brexit vote called Carry On Up the Exit might be lost on younger audience members, few of whom probably know the Carry On films. It’s pretty naff in this day and age, even for those of us who remember the films, and is the least successful of the night but makes its point about xenophobia. And then there’s Donald Trump.

The show ends with Little Trump of Horrors, in which the Republican Presidential candidate is shown giving a couple of speeches, using his actual words verbatim – which, let’s face it, are beyond satire. If you didn’t know he’d actually said it all, you’d be hard pressed to believe it. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton gets her Barbra Streisand on, letting rip with Don’t Piss on my Campaign (sung to the tune of Don’t Rain on my Parade). As with the terrorist song, the Trump routine doesn’t generate huge laughter but it hits home.

Drew Forsythe as Pauline Hanson. Photo by Brett Boardman

The performers are all in fine form. In customary fashion, Soctt is a genial whizz at the piano and has fun playing characters as diverse as George Brandis and Hattie Jacques. Biggins’ brilliant flair for vocal mimicry is showcased not only as Abbott but as Trump and the Belgian accented Mathias Cormann, while Forsythe is unforgettably funny as Hanson and very touching as Ellis.

Stepping in at short notice for an indisposed Katrina Retallick, Paige Gardiner does a good job as Hillary Clinton, Jacqui Lambie and Julie Bishop, with limited rehearsal time, while Amanda Bishop (who has performed in several recent Wharf Revues) makes a screen appearance as Julia Gillard.

Year after year, the Wharf Revue sells out, and Back to Bite You has already done so. For the lucky ticket holders, it is unlikely to disappoint.


The Wharf Revue: Back to Bite You is at Wharf 1 until December 23.

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