The Science Revue Society, which has been flooding their Facebook page with memes of varying quality for weeks, has delivered a performance that lives up to the high expectations that have been percolating around campus following their bake sales, snag sales, ticket sales & more.
Medieval Europe is back in vogue, as the revue, directed by Eleanor Fair and Taylor Kennedy with assistant director Georgie Harley-McDonald, centred around the upcoming arrival of Leonardo Da Vinci. He, along with his crew consisting of Galileo and Mona Lisa, were preparing to exhibit Da Vinci’s latest invention, a flying machine. Four washed-up scientists, who desperately wanted to beat Da Vinci and prove their own worth, demonstrated the various ideas they had had, which included the wheel (already invented, unfortunately), tequila (likewise) and tequila with lime, which wasn’t groundbreaking in the scientific field but received very enthusiastically by the other scientists.
Producers Aria Pestonji and Taylor Fair covered an excellent variety of material: The scenes stretched across centuries and continents, covering sock-puppets, therapy sessions with sentient pillows, Shark Tank, Dad-themed cafes, Big Tobacco, rap battles, sock-munching gnomes and armed robbery committed by Winnie the Pooh (“Don’t make Tigger pull the twigger!”).
A sepia-toned silent film was one of the standout skits, with subtitlesfollowing every line of dialogue. Graphics designer Margot Roberts and AV director Parker Constantine had a commendable hand in that. Taking place on a Sydney train, “Adventures of the Bacseat Bandits” [sic] featured a seat-slinging showdown between a gang of titular bandits and several innocent commuters, one of whom was dramatically pushed down the stairs to crash, lifeless, on the ground. However, the bandits bit off more than they could chew when they took on another bandit, who held three fingers and counted down to three, with the picture changing to show the subtitle every time they spoke.
Will Blanchfield, who had gathered a considerable league of fans in the front row after a series of successful scenes, had the crowd eating out of his hand when he made a spectacular entrance as the Angel Gabriel. In an unscripted moment he held up a quelling hand to silence the raucous crowds, which silenced their cheering but provoked a roar of laughter. He proceeded to explain to a Heaven hopeful why there really wasn’t enough room, and the poor lad would have to do more good deeds in order to get in. Margaret Thatcher made a surprise guest appearance, claiming to be Mother Theresa and declaring that the person should be allowed in. Unsurprisingly, she was booed out of the room. Blanchfield also had a very moving monologue in a Secret Santa gift exchange set in Ancient Greece, where he passionately defended socks with sandals and made a compelling argument to Caesar why Brutus’ gift of a PS4 was simply beyond his budget. Take heed, Brutus.
The jazz band loomed large not only for their musical prowess but for the surprising degree to which they featured in scenes. The band director Yianni Scarlis and assistant band director Leo Hong seem to have agreed that it was high time musicians got an opportunity to showcase their acting skills too. Although, it must be said, the clarinet and trumpet players were incontrovertibly superb. The conductor set high expectations when he stood up to interrupt the band, flourishing a plastic penis as a baton and throwing it in a fit of rage at a musician who was not hitting the right notes. I wonder if ‘projectile penis’ ought to have been used as a content warning.
Crew director Kaine Shields oversaw a very smooth operation, while also gunning for more spotlight. An overhead voice declared “Welcome to Stagehands Anonymous. Please take a seat.” And in perfect synchrony, three stagehands took the seats off the stage. Very elegantly done.
A voiceover skit of Hemingway arguing with an advertising company about his “Baby shoes for sale: never worn” story flew over the heads of the non-English majors in the audience, but was appreciated nonetheless. In a similar vein, a scene that followed a time-traveller trying to stop the Titanic — only for it to be revealed that they’d accidentally gone onto the Hindenburg instead — included a brief moment where a crew attendant declared the announcement of his captain: “O Captain!” and, after a brief pause, “My Captain.” Literary jokes are all the sweeter when they take place at the Science Revue.
Singing directors Mischa Bendall and Zoë Withington had their work cut out for them with a long list of musical numbers, including some notable performances like a rendition of Pink’s “Raise Your Glass” performed by four board shorts-wearing, Hawaiian shirt-clad fishing enthusiasts as “Raise Your Bass,” complete with four fish as props.
However, the STEM students were not altogether neglected, as we had a surprise incursion from a Mathematics 1B professor who took a music stand from a bemused musician and promptly started lecturing the audience about quantum field theory, with pages of non-numerical formulas plastered across the screen behind him. Dear MATH1061 students: we’re sorry you have to go through that.
The final hurrah came from our four intrepid scientists and their discovery of a theory that everything that was wrong was in fact… incorrect. Having stumbled across this amazing invention, they crowed over Da Vinci, Galileo and Mona Lisa, and promptly launched into an ensemble rendition of Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive.” A heartening sentiment for those of us dealing with a crippling number of upcoming assignments.
