Evidence, Everywhere, All at Once: Law Revue 2023 Review

I often found myself wishing I had an extra eye to see the splendour of it all.

Instantly dazzling — with literal disco pants — the Law Revue is a feast of sights, sounds, and sensations. It lives up to its name with a stunning variety of performances. The most impressive aspect of revues is that those who were singing their hearts out or dancing their socks off were also acting throughout the show, parading their many talents. I often found myself wishing I had an extra eye to see the splendour of it all. Directors Una Altarac, Joseph Singer, and Martha Barlow have done a stellar job this year and the end result pays off. The actors are consistently vibrant and energetic. With special mention to actors Anthony-James Kanaan, who revealed his surprising aptitude for Italian opera, and Una Altarac, whose skit about jeans was outrageously funny; the choice to wear double denim made this skit unexpectedly perfect.

The music was an eclectic mix of Bunnings advertisements, early 2000s pop-rock, and even the university helpline holding tune. Likewise, the skits cover a range of issues, with the most law-relevant focusing on Australian politics, so that I was fortunately savvy with the political inside jokes. The jazz band, ever-present at the back of the stage, was both the foundation of the show and the relief in between skits. With a dazzling opening number of ‘You Ain’t Never Had A Bot Like Me,’ the band and the wonderfully talented dance troupe started off with a bang. To answer the question of what ChatGPT can’t do: sing, dance, or play the drums. While the skits were often fast-paced and some were too short to fully appreciate, the band were consistently impressive and provided some much-needed diversity of performances. In concert, the band and the dancers were a sight to behold. The choreography was so tight and synchronised that it was evident how many hours the cast had poured in to perfect it.

After a 20-minute interval, the cast was back again and better than ever with a bold performance of ‘Bad Finance,’ featuring Phillip Lowe/Lady Gaga, which sexualised Lowe to a disturbing extent. The second half featured more skits that were linked together, as well as some clever audio-only pieces and an ABBA dance number, which was always bound to be a success. No issue was beyond the purview of the directors, and the skits varied from a homoerotic duet between Dominic Perrottet and Chris Minns to a mature version of Inside Out with ‘Horny’ added into the mix. Of the many, many parodies on display, a highlight of the show was Cunk in Law: a riff on Philomena Cunk’s mockumentaries that explored the Sydney Uni Campus.

The final music number “Pay Your HECS Debts Off” was performed with a notable improvement in the sound quality. Some of the earlier singers had attempted to belt or hit high notes with a fair bit of bravery, and the microphones occasionally weren’t perfectly adjusted. However, the singers in this piece outshone many of the singers who had performed earlier, and the addition of the choir to the two main vocalists made the whole song work even better.

With a packed audience filling out the Everest Theatre, the crowd had a lot of energy to give. And all of it was matched by the tireless cast, who acted, sang, danced, rapped, played many instruments, and performed until the crowd roared with applause. Evidence, everywhere, of a great show.