THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO PAUL - THE SECOND COMING

 

 The Gospel According To Paul. The Second Coming.

Written and performed by Jonathan Biggins. Directed by Arne Neeme. Designer Mark Thompson. Lighting Designer Verity Hampson. Sound and Video  Designer David Bergman. Producer Jo Dyer. Production Manager Barrie Seale. Touring Technical Manager Sam Read. Stage Manager Tim Burns. Photographer Brett Boardman. Soft Tread Theatre. The Playhouse. Canberra Theatre Centre. September 16-19 2026. Bookings: canberraticketing.com.au or 62435711.

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins

 

Jonathan Biggins plays Paul Keating in

The Gospel According to Paul - The Second Coming 

Paul Keating’s scathing one liners are the stuff of legend in the history of parliamentary debating. Who can forget his withering description of a political opponent as “a shiver in search of  spine”? Jonathan Biggins returns with his portrayal of the former Prime Minister.  With an acerbic swipe at fools and nonsense, the Honourable Paul Keating and Member for Blaxland was not just the sharpest parliamentary performer on the block. With his love of art, music and soaring intellect many would consider Keating a truly Renaissance man, but he remains best known for his performance as the nation’s 24th Prime Minister and his sabre sharp repartee. As Biggins reveals, the man remains an enigma. Mark Thompson’s replica set of Keating’s study with its red feature walls, hung with classic portraits and an English landscape and furnished with heavy furniture suggests a traditionalist of a former era rather than a fervent stalwart of the Labor Party since the age of 15. Here is the man for all seasons with the imagination to see the bigger picture and the courage to carry through economic reforms, such as floating the dollar, deregulating the banks to allow foreign banks and cutting tariffs or the social reforms to introduce compulsory superannuation, passing the Native Title Act and delivering the landmark Redfern Speech to acknowledge the wrongs done to the indigenous First nations Peoples. The Gospel According to Paul - The Second Coming is no dry account of Keating’s achievements as Bob Hawke’s Treasurer or the nation’s Prime Minister. Director Arne Neeme and Biggins present a flesh and blood portrayal of a man of astounding intellect with a deep love of music, art, architecture and 95% of the working men and women of the nation.

 During a performance lasting ninety minutes without an interval, Biggins offers a masterful portrayal of a colossus of Australian politics, fearless in assertion, ruthless in condemnation, resolute in reform, unerringly honest and in the end humbled by the genius of Mahler and the great composers. Drawing on the writings of Kerry O’Brien, Troy Bramston and Don Watson as well as the words of Paul Keating, Biggins has drawn together a comprehensive account of the man, his ideas, his ideals, his ambition and and his Nature. It is left to an audience to determine their response to Biggins’s carefully documented account of the man and his life, a theatrical biography that encapsulates the complexity and the character of an unique and intriguing politician. The party faithful and the politicians in the row to my left erupted into gales of laughter and applause as Biggins opened with a scathing attack on political foes and chosen parliamentary colleagues alike. His dismissal of the AUKUS compact and the “odious” Hanson brooked no contradiction. Keating came out swinging and his swipe hit the mark with precision. Actor and subject merge in gesture and voice and the opening night Canberra audience lapped up the performance with delight.

 Director Neeme keeps a tight rein on a performance that in less capable hands could lapse into caricature. The timing is impeccable as Biggins takes us through a slide show of his early life, through to his entry into Parliament, his relationship with Hawke and eventual challenge and ascension to the highest office in the land. For those who lived through his time it is a trip down memory lane and the milestone events of his political life. To a less informed audience it may be a lesson in the visionary ideal and leadership. All this is underpinned by Keating’s incisive observation of the cut and thrust of political life, seasoned with hilarious wit that filled the Playhouse with laughter. Neeme ensures that this is no dry presentation of an indulgent memoir. The mood is lightened by Biggins’ performance of My My My Delilah in homage to his hero Tom Jones or a vaudeville routine to Putting on the Ritz and a rendition of Sinatra’s That’s Life.. There are moments of tenderness as he cradles an eighteenth-century fob watch that he bought when a youth or utters a sombre reflection of the political life’s effect on family and the impact of the death of an adored father. Biggins avoids incursion into the personal life, but his performance ensures our empathy in the moments that reveal a man like any other man. In the extraordinary we can discover the ordinary that is common to all.

 Soft Tread’s production of The Gospel According to Paul – The Second Coming is a cautionary tale not to be missed. Biggins offers a brilliant funny, instructive and thoroughly entertaining performance as he unravels the complex nature of a man with simple ideals and the will to carry them through. It is a sermon worth hearing in today’s Parliament on the mount.

Photos by Brett Boardman