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| Tia Wilson as Gladys Berejiklian in "GLADYS A Musical Affair. |
Music and Lyrics by Nick Rheinberger – Script by Nick
Rheinberger and Tia Wilson
Directed by Tia Wilson and Anne-Louise Rentell
Performed by Tia Wilson, Nick Rheinberger, Mel Wishart, Rob
Laurie
Presented by Watch & Act Productions
The Q, Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre, June 4th,
2025.
Reviewed by BILL
STEPHENS.
%20-%20Tia%20Wilson%20(Gladys%20Berejiklian)%20Photo%20John%20Swainston.jpg) |
| Nick Rheinberger (Daryl Maguire) - Tia Wilson (Gladys Berejiklian) |
Written and performed by Tia Wilson and Nick Rheinberger who
together with Mel Wishart and Rob Laurie play a variety of recognisable
characters involved in an event which was big news at the time but already
surprises by just how quickly it has become a distant memory.
In reminding the capacity audience of the catastrophic bush
fires, the worldwide Covid epidemic, the Independent Commission against
Corruption, which formed the background to the events parodied, Gladys A
Musical Affair is firmly, and occasionally hilariously, on the side of
Berejiklian as it traces the dot points of an impressive career brought undone by
an affair of the heart.
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| Mel Wilson as Dr. Kerry Chant |
Wilson plays Berejiklian throughout, while Rheinberger represents
Daryl Maguire, Brad Hazzard and a series of Armenian suitors. Wishart contributes
Kerry Chant and Commissioner Ruth McColl, while Laurie becomes Shane Fitzsimmons
and Scott Robertson. Wishart and Laurie also portray Berejiklian’s mum and dad
who feature prominently in the narrative.
All four performers are skilled multi-instrumentalists, so
besides portraying the easily recognisable characters, employ an impressive variety
of instruments in clever musical arrangements to accompany the slight but
serviceable songs which punctuate the narrative.
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| Rob Laurie as Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons |
These songs embrace a variety of genres, and the instruments included accordions, bouzoukis, clarinets, banjos, castanets, guitars, drums and keyboards, in deference to Berejiklian’s Armenian heritage, with a kazoo thrown in at one point just for fun.
Memories are jogged as the well-known events are recapped. “Truth
or Lie” sets up the premise. “Is It a Lie If You Just Don’t Tell?” Berejiklian
enquires. A faux-romantic ‘Les Miz’ style duet for Maguire and Berejiklian, “If
I Dreamed It Will Come True”, contrasts with another later, a head-banging rock
anthem,” I’m the Boss”. “Is It Too Late to
Save the Day?” follows the disastrous ICAC revelations, and finally a
remorseful “My First Love Was My Worst Love for Berejiklian”.
While Berejiklian is allowed to retain a modicum of dignity in
the telling, Maguire is given no such latitude for his part in her downfall, and
while the events portrayed no doubt deserve more serious discussion, Gladys A
Musical Affair certainly succeeds in providing its audience with an entertaining
hour of delightfully devious political history.
