There is nothing like attending a show ‘blind’. Apart from the media release and social media posts from Red Scare Theatre company marketing machine (aka James Cain), I know nothing more about this production. As I await what is in store, I feel like I’m being lulled into a false sense of musical normality and safety with the pre-show music – predominately early Lloyd-Webber and musical hit shows such as Oliver and Funny Girl. 

The Newtown Community Centre is a character in its own right. A heart of its community for almost 40 years, it is the perfect venue for Bud Davenport (Kevin Orlando) and Doug Simon (Charlie Potter) with nonchalant accompanist Charles (a very talented Stephen Clothier) to present to us their audition to backers (us) for Gutenberg! The Musical! with all the earnest manic intensity of children’s morning television hosts.

Bud Davenport (composer) and Doug Simon (lyricist) explain their dream of getting their show to Broadway and “if you don’t know the person sitting next to you, they are probably a Broadway producer” who may just make their show a reality! 

The show is an ‘historical fiction’ (i.e. pretty much all made up) about Johannes Gutenberg who introduced movable type to Europe with the printing press in the mid 15th Century.

Set in a fictitious German town of Schlimmer and using named hats to show us who they are portraying, Bud and Doug take us on a riotous ride through this hilarious story of Gutenberg’s passionate vision to educate the masses by teaching them to read, while being thwarted by a sadistic Monk (who, it seems, has already sold his soul to the Devil in Georgia). 

The play operates on many levels. Not only do we get to experience the unbridled enthusiasm of Bud and Doug presenting their labour of love but we also gain an insight into who they are as a creative duo. Their gawky awkwardness is part of their charm as they strive to enter the musical theatre history books in the footsteps of famous collaborators like Gilbert and Sullivan, Kander and Ebb, Lloyd-Webber and Rice.  

Add in what feels like a cast of thousands: the love interest – the beautiful but dim-witted Helvetica, the misguided and loyal Young Monk – and an eclectic mix of Schlimmer’s towns folk to illuminate the nerdy intensity of Scott Brown and Anthony King’s script and score … I want them to succeed despite all evidence to the contrary.

The actors embody all these characters with jaw-dropping brilliance. Their phenomenal comic timing, physical theatre and vocal characterisations both spoken and sung, are a testament to their skill and attention to detail under the expert guidance of director Cassandra Tse and musical director Michael Stebbings.

Using a venue with excellent natural acoustic and a baby grand piano for accompaniment is refreshing in these highly technical times. Aaron Blackledge’s lighting design is reminiscent of an 80s Blue-Light disco adding to the do-it-yourself dynamic. 

And just like that, we have come full circle. 

If Gutenberg had not invented the printing press, access to this mad-capped script with its irreverent wink to the power of dreams and the wonders of storytelling through musical theatre would not have been possible.

After seeing this show, ‘Doing a Gutenberg’ may be the new catch-phrase for all theatre creatives and practitioners well versed in juggling many hats.  

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