Razor-sharp cabaret

Cabaret Politique
Trio Gusto with accompanist Philip Roberts
Sydney 8pm Tuesday-Saturday until February 26 at Imperial Hotel, Erskineville. Wollongong 6.30pm March 3-5 and 8pm March 6 at Performance Space, Wollongong University

Review by Allen Myers

This is a very entertaining and very funny two-hour examination of recent and more distant Australian politics by a group of lively and talented performers.

The first half of the show looks back to the 1930s -- not nostalgically, but as a foil and partly a source for events in the '90s.

The '90s themselves are presented from the new millennium by ConGlom Media (a merger of Packdog and Murder). Highlights include the famous quiz show The New Price of the Right and a penetrating TV interview with No Notion leader Pauline Hanson. And there's a cameo appearance by Bill, an oversexed dog formerly employed as president of a great and powerful friend.

The music is varied in style but always good, the humour is non-stop, and the politics are sharp as a razor.

If a further testimonial is needed, Cabaret Politique was rejected by the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras as “not mainstream enough”. That's one of its strongest points.

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