Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson – Squabbalogic

Overview

Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson is what would happen if Fall Out Boy decided to put on a musical exploring populism, the formation of the Democratic Party and the forced removal of Native Americans. It might seem odd to present an emo rock opera exploring American themes to Australian audiences, but it draws many parallels with modern-day Australia, particularly when considering forced resettlement and the current refugee debate in this country.

The show ultimately explores whether the radical behaviour of America's seventh president, Andrew Jackson, caused chaos or brought order to a troubled nation. As soon as you enter the theatre it is clear that they have adopted the anarchic view. The space is draped with caution tape, sabotaged presidential paintings and tampered American paraphernalia, and the cast are drinking for all to see.

This anti-Jackson vision advocated is then cemented upon introduction to the punk-rock President, who is overtly racist from the outset and egotistical until the end. Having said that, it is refreshing to not have to like everyone on stage. Jackson (Peter Meredith) is rarely amiable after the first five minutes as an anarchic president of petulance caught up in the disillusionment of his own legend, and this is testimony to Meredith's energy. However, his emotions are dropped and at times never felt at all, which leaves us slightly uninvested in his transformative character arc. Someone who is extremely likeable, though, is Martin Van Buren (Jay James-Moody), who steals the show with his measured movements, one-liners and perfect timing.

The musical numbers are tight, with the show opener 'Populism' very polished, as is 'Ten Little Indians', which is accompanied by very clever finger choreography. However, whenever the brilliant band raised their volume, the singers became difficult to comprehend and it appeared to not be a technical issue; they just sang quieter when equipped with microphones than when not. It was a shame as the singing was truly excellent and the audible parts of the numbers were great — "I'm going to fill you with my popularjizzm" resides in the memory.

Throughout the show, though, and for hours afterwards I could not help but ponder on just how good this show could have been were it staged in a theatre with a slightly bigger stage than The Factory Floor. Whilst there were elements created by the smaller space that certainly added to the appeal — the intimate four-piece band were a sonic delight — there were a few too many detractions resulting from the cramped conditions. Dance numbers were cute but mostly underwhelming due to the limited stage space and the rollercoaster rotation of performance vignettes distracted the audience as cast passed the crowd's peripheries to enter.

Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson is a breath of fresh air to Australian musical theatre as it is exciting to see the genre alive in smaller Sydney venues where you don't have to pay $100 to enter. But whilst there are bloody bloody good elements to the show, it doesn’t manage to hit the heights that it promises in many moments.

Image by Michael Francis.