With a stellar cast and provocatively tongue in cheek political speak, Sam O’Sullivan’s McGuffin Park, directed by Mark Kilmurry is a fun and timely depiction of small-town election season.

In the small Australian town of McGuffin, the local council is shocked when the mayor resigns a week before the mid-term election. Two friends from opposing parties decide to run for top spot but complicated pasts, the surprise vandalism of a town monument, a meddling journalist and a self-proclaimed ‘sovereign citizen’ with an anti-government agenda, will push their friendship to the limit. O’Sullivan’s writing infuses a distinctly Aussie feeling into his story by taking all opportunity for façade and bluster away from the council members.

We meet our eccentric cast of 5 before we meet the many, many characters they play throughout the story, and they regularly return to explain what’s happening – or make fun of them. It’s a fun twist on this familiar genre that brings us in on the joke from the beginning, and Kilmurry’s direction keeps it going with exaggerated costume changes and sound effects, and use of the theatre’s steep staircases to literally have the cast bouncing around the stage. There’s also a very deliberate refusal to name the party with a majority or the opposition in a way that would imply a real political party, so we all feel smug putting our preferred peeps in the main job in our own interpretations of the story

Eloise Snape, who primarily plays Fiona, one of the vying mayor candidates, brings a real earnestness to the character. She’s who we want all politicians to be like; community minded and without much of an agenda. Shan-ree Tan as her opposition and friend is a little too good at playing the politician type we’re way more used to, intent on climbing the ladder no matter who he needs to step on to do it. Thomas Campbell, Lizzie Schebesta and Jamie Oxenbould are the glue of the story, playing the most eclectic range of characters including our belligerent sovereign citizen and dedicated town reporter, and capturing the stage with every single kooky persona.

Laugh-out-loud funny and almost too timely, McGuffin Park is just the political comedy for 2024.

Purchase your ticket to McGuffin Park here.

Rosé | Wine Pairing

Not a white, not a red, rosé is the middle ground politics never seems to find these days. Sip and talk politics at your own risk.

McGuffin Park, Ensemble Theatre | Tasting Notes

Aussie Season	18 Oct to 23 Nov 2024
Ticket $	$43-88
Writer	Sam O’Sullivan
Director	Mark Kilmurry
Theatre Type & Genre	comedy, political
See it if you like	satire
Wine Pairing	Rosé
Criteria for Wine Pairing	light bodied and dry