Following the Australian civil war of 2036, the “Museum of the Glorious Revolution” was set up for the benefit of future generations. Our tour group was here to learn about the history of Australiastan.
After a brief army orientation, we were issued a weeks’ rations (a whole potato) and sat down to a presentation by our tour guide. We were told the tale of the Battle of South Yarra as well as a pivotal rural milk bar where the uprising was won. All of the country’s Communist history was explored and we were even invited to ask questions (state approved ones of course!).
Whilst in the midst of our museum tour, we experienced the fastest government overthrow in history. Our guide was dragged away by the men in black and after relinquishing our potatoes, we were given an orientation session on the new regime.
Australia, which henceforth will be known as Australia.com, was now governed by the marketplace. Based on the teachings of Adam Smith (father of Rational Economics), this country was now founded on the principles of greed. With a presentation that used much business jargon and Powerpoint, were told of the economic history of the country. We also sang the country’s Mission Statement (formerly called the National Anthem).
Once again our tour guide was dragged away and we were informed that the Military had overthrown the government. With this announcement, we were asked to leave the museum.
Scott Steensma and his crew have put together a brilliant theatrical show that is quite unique in both structure and subject matter. I noticed that some of the material had made appearances as part of Scott’s recent stand up spots and I was impressed with how well they had been adapted to fit with the storyline. The material revolved around satirizing social, corporate and governmental issues. Sometimes the jokes were based on predictable stereotypes but when presented within the context of the show, they fitted in perfectly.
There was plenty of audience participation and interaction in the show. The tasks involved the entire room so it didn’t alienate anyone and enhanced the experience. The brief moments of banter with the audience were painless. It was sometimes highly scripted so as to progress the story, but other times it required a little bit of improvising on Scott’s part and were used as a form of audience inclusion.
Substantial multimedia components were used to effectively illustrate the story. There were some clever Photoshop manipulations that used Australian people and icons to skew them to fit the fictional scenarios, as well as some relevant archive images. These were never overused so as to detract from the hilarious monologues. There were also some sound effects and a recorded dialog piece (that was mimed with perfect comic ineptitude) that were played perhaps a little too softly, but given the size of the venue they could be heard clearly.
If you want something other than stand up and would like a quite different theatrical experience, check out Comrade Consumer. You’d be a traitor if you didn’t!
Point your government censored web browser to Comrade Consumer for the relevant propaganda.