In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, the shadiest of operators in Australia is the supermarket duopoly, who can keep some prices down down, while manipulating our expectations and our wallet with loyalty schemes and advertising that promises they’re the Fresh Food People – while staying out of range of the poorest in our community.
Against the
backdrop of this slippery system that most of Australia cannot escape, indie
theatre darlings Bloomshed have returned to their roots – teaming up with the
Monash University Student Theatre to construct a new take on Gogol’s classic, The
Government Inspector.
Bloomshed
& MUST’s original version of We’re Banking On It delved into Russian
and Eastern European Politics. For this round, they are tackling front-page
news –two supermarket chains dominating the landscape, while under-paying staff
and screwing both consumer and producer. The perfect industry for the
government to inspect.
It’s a rich
area for Bloomshed to tackle from their socialist, anti-capitalist viewpoint
and also for Monash students to bring in their own experience of being Gen Z in
our current political and social quagmire.
We’re
Banking On It is
wild, in-your-face satire that skewers capitalism, consumerism and corporate
culture. It might take aim at the supply chain of groceries, but it also hits government
bureaucracy and settler colonialism and a society set up to benefit the well-off
and screw over young people and the disadvantaged.
The
audience is dropped into a well-choreographed stage show, the cast behind
unsettling masks, the soundtrack reminding us that things are at breaking
point. And we do get the story of the unsuspecting inspector questioning everyone
about their complicity, but just enough so that the ensemble can give us stark
reminders that their generation has been completely screwed out of comforts a
generation or two before were welcome to.
The alchemical
magic of Bloomshed’s Animal Farm and Paradise Lost is evident
throughout, and though the ensemble is young and finding their feet, there are some
stand-outs in the bunch. Luca Edward’s Chairman of the Board, Dick Ripper, brings
the right kind of charming sleaze to make you almost believe some of what he’s
saying about being on your side. The trio of Eloise Vernon, John Burgess and
Cal Darvall as a gaggle of Mikes forms a kind of chorus of approval most of the
time, until the backstabbing starts. As a gang, they are marvellous.
Bloomshed
regular designer, Nathan Burmeister, creates a striking tableau of blue with
the bold neon FRESH FOOD sign looming above the show. John Collopy’s lighting
fully embraces the cabaret presentation, while weaving in noir elements as the
plot thickens. It’s a beautiful show to look at.
What I
loved most about We’re Banking On It is how up-to-date it is. With
Woolworths boss Brad Banducci threatened with prison only weeks ago, this show
is on the cutting edge – referencing the questions and the rhetoric of the
Senate hearing several times and in one instance almost verbatim. Satire on
stage is often left to year-end wrap ups or age-old social mores. In this show,
we can laugh at things almost as they happen. And we can push our despair away
for seventy-five minutes. Or if we can’t push it away, we can at least console
ourselves in an audience that’s feeling the same way.
We’re
Banking On It is a
clever and classy takedown during a time when the cost of living could have
dulled our sense of humour.
- Keith Gow, Theatre First
The show is on at Fortyfive Downstairs until May 26th
Photos: Elena Ruefenacht
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