Presented by Flamimg Howard Productions
Reviewed 27 February 2018
It’s no surprise that this very talented ensemble took out the 2017 Sydney Fringe Critics’ Pick for The Colour Orange. The musicians, with their fabulous John Howard eyebrows, and actors really rocked the Thelma space at Rajopolis tonight.
I don’t need to give you a synopsis of the plot, we all know about the strange trajectory that saw Pauline Hanson being elected to the Senate in 2016. This show takes the audience on a whistle stop tour of the highlights – or should that be low lights – of Hanson’s political journey.
The opening number Hero of My Own Story features ‘ordinary Australians’ telling their stories and we meet even more of them through a wonderfully played talk-back radio session with Cheylene, a somewhat dim local from Dongalong.
With an almost bare stage and minimal props, the music and singing has to carry a lot and it does it in spades. Whether singing solos or as part of a chorus all the performers do a great job in partnership with the band. The writing is clever and mightily succeeds in ‘making fun of the ignorance that allows One Nation to thrive’ as the program puts it.
I particularly enjoyed the ‘double take’ where we see Hanson as her 1996 self at the same time as her 2016 self. Twenty years on the only real difference in her two ‘first’ speeches was the target; then it was Asians now it is Muslims.
As well as being a witty and enjoyable piece of musical theatre, this performance also left me with some uncomfortable thoughts – thinking about those ‘ordinary Australians’ who voted for someone like Pauline Hanson.
I highly recommend this show as a wonderful musical comedy which can also get you thinking.
Reviewed by Jan Kershaw
Rating out of 5: 4.5
Venue: A Space Called Thelma, RAJOPOLIS at Raj House
Season: 28 Feb and 1-3 March at 6.30pm
Duration: 60 mins
Tickets: $30 $25 Conc
Bookings: https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/the-colour-orange-the-pauline-hanson-musical-af2018
https://www.adelaidefringe.com.au
https://www.pintaram.com/u/flaminghoward
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