Review: The Gospel According to Paul at Arts Centre Melbourne
Review by Liz Baldwin
The Gospel According to Paul is a terrific night of comedy. Jonathan Biggins plays a voluble Paul Keating, reflecting on the current state of politics and his own career. Biggins’ pitch-perfect portrayal is the secret ingredient that makes this show tick.
Written and performed by Biggins, and directed by Aarne Neeme, the play premiered in 2019. Since then, it’s attracted a cult following, drawn to its acerbic humour and the opportunity to reflect on Australia’s changing political landscape. Scraps of laughter from different parts of the audience to niche historical political arcana speak to its ability to hit home for politics lovers.
This iteration of the play, produced by Soft Tread, opens with Keating waxing lyrical on the current political scene and its leaders. The withering eye will be familiar to those who have seen Biggins in his previous roles in The Wharf Revue and other productions – always current commentary, delivered with pitch-perfect timing. Biggins is the master of the one-liner (‘the only reformers you see these days are in a Pilates studio’).
The Gospel According to Paul then transitions to a retrospective lens. Keating tells us the story of his youth growing up in Bankstown, formative mentorships, and early struggles to get elected. In Biggins’ hands, Keating’s interest in politics is ever-present, but balanced by other passions – notably music, which features heavily (David Bergman designed the sound and video). Keating plays several records for the audience, commentating the whole time.
The play then explores Keating’s Canberra years – his experiences as a backbencher and junior minister in the Whitlam years, followed by his time as Treasurer and his increasingly taut relationship with Bob Hawke. The story is told through an unabashedly Keating lens, interwoven with asides about present-day politics.
Biggins makes great use of the sumptuous office space on stage, designed by Mark Thompson and elegantly lit by Verity Hampson. He moves around slowly for different moments – selecting a record, consulting a note, changing slides on the slide reel that offer glimpses of Keating’s life (his family, the house he grew up in, his first campaign bus). It works well to add a sense of movement and distinct scenes to the 90-minute monologue.
While it’s an unabashedly political show, there are small moments that speak to bigger themes. While few of us are ex-prime ministers, we all grapple with the challenge of ageing. In one quietly moving scene, Keating is dropped from a media interview because a press conference has come up instead. He is dignified and accepting, but a sense of loss slips through the mask – the fear of irrelevance. We suddenly realise he is alone in a suddenly cavernous office (bar the audience, of course). But the mask is replaced, and the show goes on.
Jonathan Biggins remains one of Australia’s most talented political comedians. In this show, he combines his unsparing political eye with compassionate glimpses of the human behind the politician – this portrayal feels much richer and more nuanced than a caricature. It’s a great show that will be loved by politics nerds.
