Robert Alcock, Sydney
Thank you, thank you John Howard and Philip Ruddock for the new sedition laws that became the target of ridicule on November 13. Tears rolled — not from fear but from laughter — at the performances by some of the country's greatest comedians at the Sydney Theatre Company.
Sedition was an irreverent middle finger that was proudly raised at the Howard government's attempt to silence dissent.
Dissenting on stage were: Gerry Connolly as Queen Elizabeth II doing a raunchy jig in stockings (bringing disrepute to the sovereign); the Chaser team congratulating Howard for making sedition laws possible (because Piers Ackerman must surely go down for leaks); Jonathan Biggins singing a discordant "opera-dissent"; the quick-witted hosts Wendy Harmer and Andrew Denton who pulled the evening together, including an upstanding audience pledge to uphold Piers Ackerman's right to free speech (though we were all upstanding, there were a few shaking heads); and even John Howard who arrived courtesy of Max Gillies.
There were a few serious moments to give our aching sides a rest. They were a letter of support from renowned author Tom Keneally, and a dire interpretation of the new sedition laws from academic Spencer Zifcak (La Trobe University) especially if such laws were in the wrong hands. (If in the wrong hands? Too late for that, I thought.)
The final powerful chill came when the darkest moment of the evening's satire closed after two hours. It was a memorable piece of melodrama called "The Damnation of Ruddock" — a brilliant Shakespearean hybrid work from Jonathan Biggins' Stuff All Happens — haunting poetry and song by an ensemble from Riverside Theatre with narration by Genevieve Lemon.
This masterpiece went for the jugular, yet found no blood. It was the heartless history of Ruddock's rise to power (to attorney general), and it touched all the raw nerves he has managed to so finely prick over the years. If justice can't yet be found in the halls of parliament, it was certainly found in this performance.
Well, the outspoken artists, filmmakers and media organisations must have struck a nerve. Ruddock was on the back foot the following morning, defending his new sedition laws in the November 14 Sydney Morning Herald, arguing that artists and satirists have "nothing to fear".
But the protection that looks like it may be afforded to our finest, high-profile performers may not be equally shared. Scott Parkin was mentioned, and remembered. And a large on-screen photo of Green Left Weekly became part of the night's stage backdrop, a reminder of what is under threat from the government's attempts to silence dissent.
There, unfortunately, the joke ends.
[Robert Alcock is a filmmaker and refugee activist. Proceeds from Sedition go towards the campaign for a human rights bill being organised by the online magazine NewMatilda.com.]