Aboriginal journalist Vic (Nakkiah Lui), Tongan political adviser Chris (Anthony Taufa) and Korean pro-bono immigration lawyer Zaza (Michelle Lim Davidson) decide one night to take on the power structures that have seen their communities marginalised and oppressed. All are highly educated but frustrated.
Vic has been relegated to social commentary and listicles, Zaza has had an existential crisis at her big consultancy firm, and Chris has been discouraged from running as a candidate by his party because he doesn’t have the right “look” to be elected.
The trio determine that in order to defeat the prime minister’s xenophobic sovereign territory legislation, they should run their own puppet candidate in the coming half-Senate election, giving them the balance of power and real control over the direction of the country.
They set out to find the perfect blank slate, and find that electable face in Lewis Lewis (Hamish Michael): an under-achieving white man who they transform into candidate Tommy Ryan.
But power corrupts. It causes people to compromise their principles, and to argue that the ends justify unconscionable means. It turns allies against each other. It turns puppets into manipulators. It turns the oppressed into oppressors.
At a time when prime ministerships are a game of musical chairs, dog whistling around issues of immigration and race are repeated from a tired playbook and Indigenous people are calling for a voice to parliament and a treaty, How to Rule the World hits the zeitgeist. Conservative politics and morally hypocritical politicians are mocked – but so too is the naivety and handwringing of the political left.
But Lui doesn’t just take pot-shots at weaknesses in our democracy. She critiques systemic, aggressive and passive racism. She also has some tough love for Vic, Zaza and Chris, and their assumptions about their own less-privileged positions. Everyone has bias; everyone has an agenda. No one gets to sit through the How to Rule the World without squirming at some point.
Lui’s hand as a writer is deftest in her ability to mix important social, cultural, racial and political critique with wit, physical humour and comic audacity. This balance ensures that her work never feels too worthy; it is laughter and humanity that ensure the audience will lean in a little closer to listen to what’s being said.
Fine pacing and tight writing shines most brightly in the first half, where it rarely hits a flat note. The rhythm is less honed in the second half, where some monologues feel more laboured at the cost of tempo and impact. Lui has become one of the most interesting and prolific Australian writers and playwrights, and is an important Indigenous voice. How to Rule the World feels like an evolution of her talent that has always showed great promise.
Director Paige Rattray has summoned a cohesive cast in which there are no weak links. Lui, Davidson and Taufa keep an unfailing dynamic; the physicality in parts of Taufa’s performance are captivating. Michael’s characterisation of the transformation from Lewis to Ryan is proficient. Rhys Muldoon relishes his role as prime minister and delivers the dark charisma needed for a villain, as well as some superb comedic moments. Gareth Davis and Vanessa Downing seamlessly play a demanding number of supporting characters with energy and skill, providing solid scaffolding to the rest of the cast and many moments of delight for the audience.
Some might be confronted by the strong political narrative within this work that abandons any subtlety, especially in direct calls for a treaty. Lui has always had a compulsion to tell it how it is. Political confrontation has long been an important aspect of Indigenous theatre in Australia, which was profoundly shaped by the establishment of the National Black Theatre in 1972. It strove to tell Indigenous stories of lived Indigenous experience as an important part of countering the colonial narrative.
Stories that challenge dominant cultural norms will always, by their nature, be political. Lui’s work is an inheritor of this tradition. The line that runs from plays of Kevin Gilbert, Jack Davies and Robert Merritt through to works from the latest generation of Indigenous playwrights including Jada Alberts and Lui is the same strand that links the generation that broke down significant societal exclusion in the 1970s to the generations who have the benefits of those advances today. Lui’s generation want to acknowledge the experiences that have shaped the lives of their families and communities, but ponder deeply what this means for the emerging black middle class. Her characters often struggle with the tension between a history of oppression and the privilege of education and opportunity.
Important messaging and a deep cultural and creative heritage alone do not make for interesting, compelling theatre. Convincing, engaging characters adroitly realised, provocative ideas, sophisticated wit, infectious humour and stories that provoke a response do – and How to Rule the World has all of those things in abundance.
• How to Rule the World runs at Sydney Theatre Company until 30 March
