For their last show of the year Belvoir’s Company B presented Casey Bennetto’s musical ‘Keating!’. The show is an expanded production of the one that Bennetto had huge success with at the 2005 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. I saw the play within the same week that I saw another play about another Labor Party icon and Prime Minister, the great Ben Chifley, opened at the Ensemble theatre. The play was ‘A Local Man’, jointly written by Bob Ellis and Robin McLachlan. As the irascible Bill Hunter in ‘Muriel’s Wedding’ might have said, ‘what a coincidence’!.

‘Keating’ has been a huge success for Company B with the main season booking out very early on, and then being extended. It’s easy to see why…this was a show with a really good, positive vibe. As one sat down in the theatre’s plush new seating, one was greeted with a really hot band playing, making one feel right at home!

‘Keating’ had a great recipe for a good night in the theatre… Neil Armfield’s smooth, clear direction…Brian Thomson’s brassy set with the back of the stage adorned with huge letters spelling out the charismatic politician’s name….A great band pumping out the music composed by Bennetto…A fantastic, super-assured performance by Mike Mcleish, he was the suave, articulate, cocky Paul Keating, dressed in an immaculate suit, as he sang, in reggae style, ‘I’m your man’, dancing around the raised platform centre-stage…

There were some great portrayals of the leading political players of the time which had the audience in stitches. Casey Bennetto was hilarious as Alexander Downer dressing up in women’s clothes to the tune of a song titled ‘he’s so freaky’. Bennetto also played John ‘I lost the unlosable election’ Hewson. Terry Serio gave two great comic performances as first the garrulous, over strident and emotional Bob Hawke, and then as everyone’s mate, John Howard, The cast also managed to include a great skit on the Gareth Evans/Cheryl Kernot romance.

The show was a real buzz! Certainly, not a bad result for a show that Bennetto dreamed up and wrote in one weekend.