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Public Service Announcements: Election 2023 runs at Circa Theatre until August 26.
Public Service Announcements – Election 2023, Wellington’s Circa Theatre, August 1, 2023. Reviewed by Nicholas Holm
To really work, political satire needs to be served as fresh as possible. Having produced 18 shows over 12 years, Public Service Announcements clearly understand this principle: their Election 2023 show offers up a high-spirited political romp that, at its best, captures the spirit of our immediate political moment better than any headline or columnist.
At the heart of show’s success are the physical, comic talents of its cast, each of whom take on multiple roles spanning race, gender, and party lines.
With the simplest of props, costume changes, and a variety of wigs, the six actors manage to portray more politicians past and present than anyone could ever want..
The physical caricatures are not only exceptionally well-drawn through mannerisms and posture, but for the most part are as hilarious as they are wonderfully unfair.
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Reviewer Nicholas Holm says Public Service Announcements: Election 2023 offers up a high-spirited political romp.
Although some of the gags will pay off best for those deeply familiar with the minor comings-and-goings of minor parties, you don’t need to be a dedicated political dork to enjoy the show. This is to both the credit and detriment and the show.
On the one hand, the broad strokes approach informs an affectionally savage roast of Te Pati Māori who attempt to woo Chlöe Swarbrick in one of the show’s best subplots (which admittedly is a bit of a spoiler, but if you were planning to attend for the plot then you have picked the wrong show).
However, on the other hand, the lack of focus also informs a series of generic gags about the Green Party as weed-smoking wokesters, or Nicola Willis threatening to castrate the male members of the National caucus.
An attempt to milk laughter out of homoerotic tension between the leaders of the Government and the Opposition feels worryingly out of sync with the times (as does the word “muff” I’m not sure ever heard so many times in one evening).
When Election 2023 is confident in the intelligence of its audience and its material it absolutely shines and delivers some of the most perceptive, cutting and just simply funny satire around.
Conversely the show sells itself short whenever it lurches unnecessarily towards timeless but easy gags about genitals, vomiting or weed. In doing, it demonstrates how political satire works best when it keeps the horrifying specifics front and centre in a joyful, knowing, and irreverent celebration of the pain of our national politics.
Public Service Announcements: Election 2023 runs at Circa Theatre until August 26.
