The Speechmaker

We had to change our booking for MTC's The Speechmaker, but on attempting to do so, we were told it was fully booked.   There was only one future performance at which two seats were available, and they weren't together.  We took the seats and had no regrets because we quite enjoyed it, but we were able to see for ourselves why there has been a lack of critical acclaim.

It's a satire with some good one-liners, although perhaps overly-reliant on Australian clichés about the US, and the outcome has a sense of inevitability about it.   Not far beneath the surface is a serious theme about the power exercised by the United States security agencies.

It's been created by the Melbourne-based Working Dog team, and presumably it is this connection that resulted in the production being sold out before opening night.

Many of the reviews haven't been complimentary, such as the Herald Sun, which was critical of the lack of depth and rather frantic movements at times (such as, does the revolving stage really have to be used so much?).  Other reviews are here. and here.

Perhaps the best description came from a friend who has also seen the play, who suggested that there was sufficient content for an enjoyable 30 minute TV satire, rather than the 90 minutes (no interval) that are it actually takes.