To say The Dismissal is perhaps the most ambitious independent musical ever produced in Australia would be a dramatic, but not entirely sensationalist, statement. Even in overlooking the dynamic staging and shrugging off its musical complexity, The Dismissal’s true power lies in its ability to reach beyond the Seymour Centre’s York Theatre to compel action.
Like Keating! — an indie, low-budget retelling of Paul Keating’s time as Prime Minister — The Dismissal also reimagines a defining chapter in Australian political history for the stage. It is truly “Australia’s answer to Hamilton.”
The show opens (as noted by the “very 70s” split-flap display above the stage) on the steps of Old Parliament House, November 11 1975. An analogue television set sits alone on the stage, displaying snippets of Australiana in between bouts of static — the “happy little Vegemites” ad, the Melbourne Cup, clips of Keating’s grandiloquence in Question Time — before a frantic, sweaty figure in a blue sequined tuxedo crawls out of the television screen.
For those already well-acquainted with Whitlam’s sacking, this is a familiar face. Norman Gunston — portrayed almost uncannily by Matthew Whittet — is endearingly idiotic, twitchy and neurotic, with the lankiest legs you’ve ever seen. Whittet helps the audience rationalise the histrionic personalities and outrageous scandals that have defined our national identity, retelling this high-stakes political drama with the lilt of an irreverent comedy.
An entertaining (but not entirely reliable) narrator, Gunston recalls Governor-General John Kerr (Octavia Barron-Martin) as a tragic hero puppeteered by a Machiavellian Garfield Barwick (Peter Carroll), and Malcolm Fraser (Andrew Cutcliffe) as the sexy saviour of a post-Snedden Liberal Party. Gough Whitlam (Justin Smith) is, as ever, the towering political juggernaut which occupies so much of Australia’s collective memory.
Director Jay James-Moody explains, “the genesis of The Dismissal predates the #metoo movement, COVID-19, multiple ministries, the reveal of the ‘Palace Letters’, the Robodebt scandal, Albo’s employment rate gaffe, the Voice referendum, and Scomo wiping out that kid in a crash tackle.”
Highlights of the show, which is almost entirely sung-through, are the poignant character numbers which give the audience an insight into the machinations and motivations behind Whitlam’s dismissal. ‘Private School Boys’ — sung by Cutliffe’s Fraser and an ensemble of Liberals — reveals the persistent environment of privilege which surrounds conservative Australian politics, and reminds the audience that ultimately this is a story of class, power and social manoeuvring: “our power is endowed, time to make our daddies proud.”
Powerful numbers like ‘Maintain Your Rage’ or Margaret Whitlam’s (Brittanie Shipway) sincere ‘Crash Or Crash Through’ hold the audience through the show’s more satirical or irreverent numbers, and Georgie Bolton’s Rex Connor and Monique Sallé’s Tirath Khemlani are outlandish and crude as they plot the now-infamous Loans Affair (which ultimately served to unravel the Whitlam Government in its final months).
Between it all, some of the unsung personalities involved in the Whitlam dismissal are granted their moment in the spotlight. Jim Cairns (Joe Kosky) pompously blunders his way through the whole affair, lending spectacular comic timing to the production. Stacey Thomsett’s Anne Kerr is depicted as Lady Macbeth in a Carla Zampatti suit, and ousted Liberal leader Billy Snedden (also Monique Sallé) — whose role in the show is only to be rolled by Fraser — gives a performance which manages to win the audience’s sympathy.
Truly, The Dismissal seeks to bring about a collective catharsis in the wake of political scandal and public outrage. Themes which are woven into the fabric of the show — the treatment of women by the media, Australia’s relationships with the monarchy, our country’s appetite for progressive political reform — are as prescient now as they were in 1975.
The story of political staffer Juni Morosi and then-Deputy Prime Minister Jim Cairns is echoed by Julia Gillard’s trial by fire and the media’s hounding of Lidia Thorpe and Brittany Higgins. The same questions — about Australia’s role in the Commonwealth — that were raised during Whitlam’s sacking have resurfaced in the wake of the Queen’s death and Charles’ coronation.
The creators of The Dismissal explain that their show “is the story of our political culture written in bold, sung in harmony, and danced in formation. Over and over again.”
As we approach a referendum which promises to occupy as much of Australia’s cultural memory as then-Prime Minister Gough Whitlam’s infamous ousting, we are reminded that Australian politics remains trapped in an endless cycle of outrage and inaction, entrenched media and corporate power.
And so, the creators of The Dismissal offer this as an attempt to disrupt this cycle. May this cautionary tale inspire the inheritors of our democracy.
The Dismissal has an exclusive student rush offer of $50 tickets available from the box office on presentation of valid student ID 2 hours prior to performance.
