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'One of Australia's favourite performers, Jonathan Biggins, is Paul Keating — visionary, reformer and rabble-rouser — in a highly anticipated new comedy, The Gospel According to Paul.
'Full of intelligence and wit, The Gospel According to Paul is a funny, insightful and occasionally poignant portrait of Paul Keating — the man that, as he tells it, single-handedly shaped contemporary Australia.
'Jonathan Biggins' performance as Paul Keating is well known from the long-running Sydney Theatre Company success story The Wharf Revue.
'Beyond the canny impersonation, Jonathan, like so many Australians, has long been fascinated by Keating and what Keating means to Australia.
'Showcasing his eviscerating wit, rich rhetoric and ego the size of Everest, The Gospel According to Paul distils Keating's essence into 75 minutes, focussing on key biographical milestones, landmark political achievements and personal obsessions.'
Source: Canberra Theatre Centre.
Adaptations
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y
The Gospel According to Paul
Sydney
:
Hachette Australia
,
2022
23591047
2022
single work
biography
'My fellow irrelevant Australians. Never, in the history of our democracy, has Australian political life been in such a parlous state. I now realise that there are generations born in this country who have never seen true political leadership, having been governed in recent times by the dullest, most sanctimonious, hypocritical choir of patsies. This book will give them an idea of what a real leader looks like.
'Leadership is not like a can of Popeye's spinach - you have to earn it. And earn it I did. And I am going to tell you how.
'In The Gospel According to Paul, writer and satirist Jonathan Biggins draws on his award-winning play to harness the eviscerating wit, wisdom and confidence of Keating to show us the evolution of Paul John Keating, from Blacktown to the Lodge and beyond. Almost the autobiography Keating said he would never write, it is a timely reminder of the political leadership we are sorely missing.' (Publication summary)
Production Details
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Presented by Soft Tread Theatre Enterprises at IMB Theatre, Illawarra Performing Arts Centre (IPAC), 26 February - 2 March 2019.
Director: Aarne Neeme.
Designer: Mark Thompson.
Lighting Designer: Verity Hampson.
Composer: David Bergman.
Cast: Jonathan Biggins.
Performed at the Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre, 26 - 30 March 2019.
Director: Aarne Neeme.
Designer: Mark Thompson.
Lighting Designer: Verity Hampson.
Sound / SV Designer: David Bergman.
Cast: Jonathan Biggins.
Set to be produced by the Soft Tread and presented by the State Theatre Company of South Australia at the Dunstan Playhouse, 24 March to 4 April 2020.
Director: Aarne Neeme.
Set and Costume Designer: Mark Thompson.
Lighting Designer: Verity Hampson.
Sound / SV Designer: David Bergman.
Cast: Jonathan Biggins.
Production cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Presented by the State Theatre Company of South Australia at the Dunstan Playhouse, 19 April - 1 May 2021.
Director: Aarne Neeme.
Set and Costume Designer: Mark Thompson.
Lighting Designer: Verity Hampson.
Sound / SV Designer: David Bergman.
Cast: Jonathan Biggins.
Presented by Arts Centre Melbourne and Soft Tread Enterprises at the Playhouse, 11-23 May 2021.
Director: Aarne Neeme.
Set and Costume Designer: Mark Thompson.
Lighting Designer: Verity Hampson.
Sound / SV Designer: David Bergman.
Cast: Jonathan Biggins.
Presented by Black Swan Theatre Company at Heath Ledger Theatre, 23 July - 3 August 2025.
Director: Aarne Neeme.
Designer: Mark Thompson.
Lighting Designer: Verity Hampson.
Sound Designer: David Bergman.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Theatre Review : The Gospel According to Paul, Sydney Opera House
2024
single work
review
— Appears in: ArtsHub , June 2024;
— Review of The Gospel According to Paul 2019 single work drama'Jonathan Biggins returns for another season in office as our former Prime Minister.'
-
Theatre Review : The Gospel According to Paul, Sydney Opera House
2024
single work
review
— Appears in: ArtsHub , June 2024;
— Review of The Gospel According to Paul 2019 single work drama'Jonathan Biggins returns for another season in office as our former Prime Minister.'
