Review: Justine Clarke stars as Julia Gillard in play about misogyny speech
A new play about Julia Gillard – and that famous speech – imagines what it was like to be Australia’s first female prime minister.
Actor Justine Clarke has her back to the audience. It’s dead silent. She’s wearing a royal-blue blazer, red pants and heels. She has the stance spot-on, but it’s the red wig that really gives it away. Australia’s first and only female prime minister, Julia Gillard, is ready to speak.
Julia, written by Joanna Murray-Smith and directed by Sarah Goodes, is fast-paced and clever. It is generous to Gillard – a celebration of women in power and a stark look at what it takes to get there – but doesn’t pretend she didn’t make mistakes or have flaws. It is not so much a critique of Gillard’s time in office as of the politicians and media who shaped it.
The play is a mixture of make-believe and fact. Murray-Smith says the Julia she has written is her own invention.
We’re introduced to Julia through Clarke the narrator, who tells us she is “shaking with purpose”. It’s October 9, 2012, and she’s about to deliver her famous misogyny speech.
But time quickly rewinds and we’re taken back to Julia’s childhood, Julia debating as a schoolgirl, dancing in the 1980s where “hair is happening” and she wants to change the world. As the years roll on, we learn how critical moments led to the emotionally charged “not now, not ever” speech that caught the attention of people across the world.
Clarke moves between playing Julia and playing the storyteller. She doesn’t impersonate the former prime minister for the whole show, but when she does it’s convincing and effective. The role is not overplayed – there’s no use of “hyper-bowl” for hyperbole – but Clarke has mastered Julia’s distinctive Australian accent and it’s a delight to listen to.
Nothing nice is said about Kevin “once-in-a-century egomaniac” Rudd.
In fact, Tony Abbott, the opposition leader who smiled awkwardly as Gillard delivered her speech and who stood behind a “ditch the witch” poster at a rally outside Parliament House, comes out of the play looking slightly more human than Rudd.
“Kevin’s death was suicide by ego. I didn’t kill Kevin,” Julia asserts. Murray-Smith attempts to take the audience inside Julia’s head. “F..k you and your fruit bowl, I have things to do,” she says, responding to criticism of an empty fruit bowl in her kitchen.
Julia wrestles with how to use her power throughout the play. “Be silent Julia, be quiet” turns into “I will not be silent; I will not.”
The set and lighting are simple but very effective. A square carpet, which transforms into the House of Representatives, is surrounded by mirrors that are also used to show vision, including close-ups of Clarke as Julia.
The play slowly builds towards the speech. You can feel the crescendo. Clarke pins back her hair and puts on the red wig with help from her young sidekick in the show, Jessica Bentley.
By the time the speech is delivered, the audience is more than ready to hear it.
It is a wonderful re-enactment, though for this reviewer it didn’t quite evoke the stirring emotion of the actual speech a decade ago.
The Canberra audience (comprising noticeably more women than men and several teal independents) lapped up every scene and clearly remembered the sexism Gillard endured.
By the time Clarke’s impressive 90-minute performance had finished, just five minutes down the road from Parliament House, all opening night theatregoers were applauding on their feet.
Julia, by Joanna Murray-Smith. Canberra Theatre Centre and Sydney Theatre Company. Canberra Theatre Centre, March 21.Tickets: $89-$119. Bookings: online. Duration: 90min, no interval. Until Saturday. Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House, March 31-May 13. Tickets: $78-$109.