The Hansard Monologues: Age of Entitlement
When producer Peter Fray shared his idea of using the Hansard transcripts* for a verbatim play, Paul Daley and Katie Pollock jumped at the chance to write it. That was in 2013, and The Hansard Monologues: A Matter Of Public Importance was created. Daley never expected there to be a sequel.
“We thought the 43rd parliament was so unique…Prime Ministers coming and going and all the bastardry that was going on, that probably another parliament wouldn’t match it, but – we were wrong!”
And so, spurred by the continued shenanigans of Australian politics, Daley and Pollock wrote a follow up – The Hansard Monologues: Age Of Entitlement.
Using The Vagina Monologues as a framework, Daley and Pollock spent hours sifting through the Hansard volumes and compiling quotes.
“We ended up with a first draft script of over 100,000 words… there’s just so much golden material there. And we had to reduce that back to less than 20,000 words,” said Daley.
Verbatim theatre dictates strict adherence to a text. This was often frustrating for Daley given some of the priceless things that happened outside of parliament (Abbott’s onion munching, for instance). However, as long as someone spoke about it during session, they could include it in the play.
The cast is stellar: John Gaden, Heather Mitchell, Andrew Tighe and Michelle Doake. Daley says they each bring a unique element to the script.
“The idea is not for the actors to mimic the politicians whom they’re reading. It’s just to deliver in the way they see fit as actors, so there’s a fair bit of licence.”
As if Australian politics isn’t funny enough already. (RB)
(*The Hansard transcripts is the name given to the edited transcripts of debates in the Senate, House of Representatives, Federation Chamber and parliamentary committees.)
Jul 28–31. Glen Street Theatre, Cnr Glen St & Blackbutts Rd, Belrose. Tickets & info: www.glenstreet.com.au
Aug 5–13. Seymour Centre, Cnr City Rd & Cleveland St, Chippendale. Tickets & info: www.seymourcentre.com.au
Prices and times vary. See theatre websites for details.
BY RITA BRATOVICH
