Reviews

Written and performed by Jonathan Biggins, The Gospel According to Paul is a tour de force script brought to life in a performance of inspired wit but also political admiration. While Biggins gives a brilliant impersonation, he doesn’t set out to look or sound exactly like Paul Keating; but he does conquer Keating’s key attributes: the arrogance, the ego, and the political nous.

“Nothing gold can stay,” says Ponyboy, quoting a Michael Frost poem whilst watching the sun go down. That seems to be true for this new production from Deadset Theatre Company, which tries to mine a rich seam of material, but nothing here glistens for long.

It’s a relatively rare event that brings Australian characters and all their quirks to the musical-theatre stage. This reality ensures that Matt Byrne Media’s new offering is, at minimum, a refreshingly unusual experience, even for those who may be familiar with the much-loved movie that marked Baz Luhrmann’s cinematic debut and which forms the basis of this show.

ZIRK! brings all the technological excitement of contemporary circus acts mixed with the age-old skills of juggling, balancing, high flying, and, of course, clowning. All of this occurs under the (very) Big Top, which seats 1650, has a circumference of 40 metres, is held up by king poles 18.5 metres high and is powered by 5 kilometres of cable. Valued at 1.2 million Australian dollars this enormous structure takes three full days to erect.