Type – Bittersweet Australian bio-comedy, monologue
If you like – Political satire/comedy, Australian politics, memoir-biography
The Gospel According to Paul: Jonathan Biggins makes Machiavelli look like an amateur
Jonathan Biggins has always been a quadruple-threat, not just able to act, sing and dance(after a fashion!), but also able to employ his razor-sharp wit on the writing side of the ledger. So you could call this his finest hour-and-a-half: he employs all these abilities to absolutely marvellous effect in his updated rendition of his own play The Gospel According to Paul (The Second Coming).
First staged in 2019, it is staged as type of trip down memory lane for undoubtedly Australia’s most well-known prime minister, Paul Keating. Acting as the man in his current twilight years, Biggins portrays him reminiscing on his remarkable life, from humble beginnings in Bankstown to the sturm und drang of his political rise to be our 24th Prime Minister from 1991 to 1996, and of course everything in between. In so doing, we witness something of an apotheosis of Keating, as the play is unabashedly hagiographic towards the Prime Minister. It doesn’t shy away from hard realities, but with Biggins’ wit, self-deprecating humour and excellent acting ability, he does it in the best possible way.
If we put the politics aside for a moment, we can appreciate the high quality of writing and acting that Biggins delivers. His ability to draw the audience into the story and the characteris outstanding. He addresses us head on throughout the performance. Aarne Neeme’s direction has him pacing the stage restlessly, to provide us with a sense of the man’s unbridled energy and drive to succeed, his relentless pursuit of what he saw as the right thing to do for the country. And it’s hilarious to boot!
This is a well-researched, beautifully written, humanist piece of theatre. Biggins gives us a serious, polished and nuanced performance, spiking the humour with genuine moments of pathos. He captures perfectly the cadence of the unmistakable Keating style and tone, without lapsing into mere ‘impersonation’. He uses the language to illuminate and capture the subject’s own love of expression, brimming with ideas, emotions, piercing the sentiment with cunning barbs to keep it real. The play is chock-full of classic Keating lines, insults, quotes from Hansard and actual speeches.
Mark Thompson’s set is wonderfully anachronistic, like an antique study with the famous curlicued clocks and cheeky paintings of Napoleon and Mahler on the walls, along with a scattering of photos of Keating’s past. He uses an old slide projector to display photos of key figures from his past, family and politicians, and this cleverly draws us into an atmosphere of a time of political hope and achievement that now seems very far away.
At the end of the day, we can’t ignore the politics. Few politicians have captured the Australian zeitgeist and angst as precisely as Keating did. Although always and ultimately a politician, he had courage and conviction, even enemies would begrudgingly acknowledge his achievements. The Redfern speech is the most honest speech by a politician probably ever in this country.
Is The Gospel According to Paul: The Second Coming worth seeing in Sydney?
Watching this, you cannot imagine any of the current crop of politicians since then on the cover of Rolling Stone. Even in 1992, it was rare for the magazine to put a politician on itscover; Lorrie Graham’s photo has since become deservedly iconic (there is currently a free exhibition of her work on at the State Library of NSW). Company B’s production of Casey Bennetto’s Keating! The Musical from 2006 with Mike McLeish helped to beatify the Keating legacy. It seems fitting for the creative sector to lionise the figure who made such a significant difference in the 1990s.
If you’re old enough to remember the Keating years, go and see this play as a brilliant memory-jogger of an incredible time. If you’re not, go and see it, and laugh and learn how much better things could be.
Tickets and Practical Info for The Gospel According to Paul: The Second Coming in Sydney 🎟️
Wharf 1 Theatre
Until 20 December 2026
Tickets: here
Cast
Jonathon Biggins
Creatives
Director – Arne Neeme
Designer – Mark Thompson
Lighting Designer – Verity Hampson
Sound & Video Designer – David Bergman
