OBSERVER: Hawke
An Australian prime minister dies and wakes up in purgatory, wondering why he is there.
No, it’s not a new political joke, but the premise of a new musical play called Hawke, about the legendary Robert James Hawke, Australia’s 23rd prime minister.
Written by P. Kauffman, and Denny Lawrence, with original music written by David Pereira and performed by Pereira and Edward Neeman, Hawke comes to Chapel off Chapel this week.
The real Hawke won four consecutive elections and had the highest popularity rating of any prime minister since the debut of opinion polls.
But according to the fantasy of the play, Hawke’s success was founded on a heinous act, so after his death Hawke wakes up in purgatory, the waiting room between heaven and hell in Christian mythology.
But he has visitors – a bishop with a dark past and his two wives, wife number one, Hazel Hawke, and wife number two, the still very much alive Blanche d’Alpuget. As the action of the play unfolds, we learn whether Hawke will end up in heaven or hell.
Playing characters based on people who are so familiar from recent memory presents a huge challenge, but director Denny Lawrence has found four actors at the top of their game.
Playing the larger than life character of Hawke is Peter Houghton, with Mike Bishop as The Bishop (naturally), and Ana Mitsakis as Hazel, and Chelsea Plumley as Blanche.
Described as “an excellent script” from former Labor staffer for Hawke, Dr Mark O’Connor, and as “more Macbeth and Rigoletto than Wharf Revie or Crocodile Dundee” by Michael Jackson from Harvard, the premise sounds intriguing.
And there’s only one way to find out if Hawke ascends or descends from purgatory, and that’s to go and see this new musical play.
It’s running for a short season at Chapel off Chapel from October 9-12. Book tickets at chapeloffchapel.com.au or call 8290 7000.
Julie Houghton
Pictured: Peter Bishop in Hawke