Sydney Reviews

A packed house congregates in Wollongong, a traditional Labor heartland, for the second coming of Jonathan Biggins’s hilarious and moving history of former federal Treasurer and Prime Minister, Paul Keating.

An actor, writer, broadcaster, singer, comedian and MC, Biggins is a hugely accomplished performer. His Keating character has been finely honed over many iterations of the Wharf Review, a long-standing political satire, musical comedy show. His physicality, timing and intonation perfectly capture Keating’s incisive and cutting wit. 

First staged in 2020-21, during the third and final act of our last Liberal government, this “second coming” has been updated with Keating’s acerbic observations on the AUKUS defence pact and our place in Asia, the latest incarnation of One Nation, and the “timid” reforms of our current Labor government. 

The audience is mainly late baby boomers and early gen Xers who may remember Keating as seeming fresh and young when he became treasurer to newly-elected prime minister, Bob Hawke in 1983.

Keating first won his seat in federal parliament at the age of 25, in the 1969 “Don’s Party” election. Labour was expected to win but lost by a narrow margin.

By the time Hawke became PM, Keating had been in parliament for 14 years.

This show doesn’t just tell us what we already know. Biggins spends time on Keating’s early years: his childhood in Bankstown; his high school careers advisor’s suggestion that he’d make a good architect or panel beater; his decisions to leave school at 14 and later to spend 3 months’ salary on an 18th century watch.

Then there’s the little-known sub-plot where Keating nearly becomes a music promoter and avoids politics altogether!

Music and aesthetics are recurring themes. Mark Thompson’s set design features heavy, antique furniture, a record collection and turn table. There’s a slide projector, a desk with corded telephone, and a microphone on a stand for the rousing musical numbers, including a side-splitting Keating impression of Tom Jones.

Biggins stresses Keating’s goals of greatness and power over popularity.

But there’s genuine sadness in the eventual souring of the Hawke-Keating partnership.

In this retelling, Hawke’s injury by a rogue cricket ball and the revelation of his daughter’s heroin addiction mark the turning point in his strength as a leader. A poignant quote from Blanche d'Alpuget underpins this observation.

The Gospel According to Paul is meticulously crafted entertainment. It’s uplifting without pulling any punches.

The rousing applause is testament to the popularity of a character who is truly a legend in his own lifetime.