The 50th Annual Medical Games: 2025 Med Revue
The lights dimmed to reveal a first-year medical student — a tribute primed for slaughter. The student, Katniss Hepareen (played by Lachie McKay), was greeted by the evening’s host, a Stanley Tucci mimic, Caesarian Flucloxacillin (Artin Arjomandi), with slicked-back, purple hair and a sinister, toothy smile. The newly minted tribute is then inducted into the medical arena, where the odds are not in his favour. Live from the Seymour Centre’s Reginal Theatre, The Med Revue: The 50th Annual Medical Games offered, for a night, a glimpse into the hallowed medical student battleground.
Comedic skits interlarded the narrative framing of the Hunger Games parody. While skits were often fast-paced and somewhat fragmented, the ASMR anatomy act, projected onto the screen, left the audience in stitches of laughter. The production had a stunning variety of performances that captivated the audience’s attention. The musical numbers were accompanied by dancers who, particularly Annie Chen, seamlessly transitioned to skits. The band stood at the back of the stage, anchoring the production. A standout musical number was ‘U-SY-D-S-MP’, ‘Please just give me my degree’, a parody of Chappell Roan’s Hot to Go, in which the audience roared with applause. Notably, Nicoline Elder, whose acting was spectacular, did a ballet solo which left the audience in awe. The choreography was tight and clearly rehearsed tirelessly by the ensemble. The production was a tremendous achievement.
True to the Revue genre, the skits satirised the medical department’s faults. The hypocrisy of allocating exhaustive commutes to hospital residencies was poignant. Periodically throughout the show, the screen projected an audio narration of one particularly unlikely tribute’s commute, which included cancelled rural trains and eventually air travel. A skit in which Anderson Stuart (Zac Ellis) ignores female students fractured the legacy of the USYD medical school founder. However, the indictment of the historical figure, rather than a contemporary culprit, felt meek. That said, Amit Samuni, playing an administrator, with a remarkable Donald Trump impression, somewhat satisfied my desire for an outright departmental accusation. However, it is inherently difficult for current students to criticize departmental figures. I applaud the directors, Janathan Wu and Ashley Zhang, for their magnificent production – a hilarious, witty and tender ensemble comedy.
While toeing the line between comedy and critique, realism remained present. Much like the Hunger Games themselves, studying medicine is a cutthroat affair. Systematic disadvantage, arbitrary course requirements, and rigorous placements are a given. Suffice it to say that the system has its faults. That said, to quote the final song, ‘we are all in this together.’ While I was an outsider, the sense of unity in the room was palpable. Despite not understanding the medical terms (until I found the program’s glossary), for a night, I felt inducted into this arena. And it was a hoot.