The Gospel According to Paul ( a project almost 7 years in the making) returns to our stages for a victory lap as Jonathan Biggins – co-creator and star of The Wharf Revue and one of Australia’s favourite comic actors – transforms into the visionary, reformer and rabble-rouser, Paul Keating.
Long time collaborator and director of the show, Aarne Neeme, explains that the project began in 2019, and since has been toured around Australia a number of times.
“Jo Dyer, our producer from Soft Tread Enterprises, has done a magnificent job in presenting and promoting it. I was drawn to it by its subject matter and the pleasure of working with Jonathan, especially having seen him playing the role of Keating a number of times in the Wharf Revue.”
Biggins is one of Australia’s favourite comic actors and has attracted rave reviews for his performance as Keating.Says Neeme, ” Jonathan combines skilful acting with total commitment, and a wonderful sense of humour. We enjoy a long-lasting friendship and a mutual respect for each other’s ability. In rehearsals, I play the passive audience that he is wanting to engage. We were constantly trying out different deliveries, both vocal and physical, to see what works best.”
The two artists history is firmly established having first met and worked together in Newcastle during 1979, where Biggins was completing high school.
“I was most impressed by his talent and being, that I asked him to join me as part of the Hunter Valley Theatre Company, which I took over in the following year,” says Neeme. “After 3 years, I moved back to Sydney, followed by a number of the company, who wanted to pursue a professional career, having developed a taste for it. Jonathan was one of them, and I did my best to introduce him to the Sydney scene. My own work took me away to Perth, Singapore and also into the world of television directing, but I maintained my contact with Jonathan, who strongly established himself locally. I was delighted when he approached me about working with him again on the Keating project.”
Exploring the former PM’s landmark political achievements and personal obsessions, The Gospel According to Paul takes the light on the hill and shines it on a man who grew up in the Labor Party at the knee of Jack Lang, approached economics as an artform, and demanded we confront the wrongs of our past. This production captures Keating’s eviscerating Question Time wit and wraps it up in a Zegna suit.
While not a political devotee, Neeme says he was aware of Keating and admired his prospects and achievements explaining that Biggins had investigated the journey of his life and work, revealing many details that he was not aware of.
“Like his early days and pursuit of political knowledge through Jack Lang. Jonathan maintained contact with Keating about the development of the script, while I, wanting to keep most of my objectivity, didn’t get to meet him until last year after a show, when I was staggered by his attentiveness and modest demeanour.”
Of course, a one-man biographical show, Neeme acknowledges that directing a one person play as opposed to a larger cast is a harder task.
“Apart from the audience, the actor has no one to bounce off, making the development of the character/journey far more onerous. Thus, the director’s responses are far more critical, and the actor has to create the relationship and changes of the other characters through their imagination, much like the closeup in filming. Strangely enough, it is easier with a show such as this, with the writer and actor being the same person, making consensus of choices simpler.”
For some, having a piece of work that encourages audience participation is a major goal, but Neeme feels that the art of theatre is not declaring what is right and what is not, therefore providing answers as in a propaganda piece. Rather it is to encourage the audience to contemplate and speculate on the situation. “So, it is the actor job, not just to play the character and tell the story, but to fully immerse the audience into their character’s dilemmas. In a one man show this responsibility is very taxing. Like in Gospel, it is not just about the wit and wisdom of Paul, but his vulnerability, progressively expressed, so that it doesn’t become repetitive.”
In a very fickle industry, the piece has intrigued and scintillated audiences for many years. For Neeme the longevity of the play’s attraction to audiences is due to a combination of the subject matter and Biggins’ skill in engaging the spectators. “Given today’s politics and politicians, someone like Keating with his clarity, wit and wisdom is a reminder of what was achieved in the past, and what we might wish for today. The present party and leader turmoil is indicative of this, where throughout the world, voters are drawn out of desperation towards narcissistic candidates, in an attempt to regain that sense of clarity.”
Neeme has worked in theatre and TV since the early 1960s, primarily as a director and teacher. Most recent productions have been When Icebergs Burn (The Wolves Theatre Company) Extremities (Intercultural Theatre Institute, Singapore) and A Doll’s House (Canberra Repertory Theatre). A recipient of various awards in Sydney, Perth, Newcastle and Canberra, he was most notably conferred the Order of Australia (AM) in 2013.
As a director, he is most drawn to plays that touch on the issues of the day. “Plays that make us reflect and reconsider our thoughts and opinions. A good example would be Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People, which looks at individual integrity standing up against the gains of society and its leaders. And of course, comedy also has its place in revealing the absurdity of people and their actions.”
The Gospel According to Paul plays at Arts Centre Melbourne, Playhouse Theatre from Tuesday 20 October to Sunday 1 November. It is also performing at Brisbane’s QPAC in August, Canberra and Newcastle in September and Sydney Theatre Company in November.
Says Neeme, “The Gospel According To Paul is a great experience of the best that theatre has to offer! It is pure entertainment! Not only in the skills of a great actor, or in the release of laughter, but as a history lesson in what has been achieved and what may be wished for in the future. In every word, a true Gospel!”
artscentremelbourne.com.au
