The Merger

Overview

One-man shows are a tricky enterprise to pull off. And it takes a brave, talented and personable actor to do it well. Enter Damian Callinan. Nominated for the Barry Award for most outstanding show of the Melbourne Comedy Festival, Callinan brings The Merger to Sydney audiences at the Seymour Centre.

A show about one man's venture to save his town's football team, it’s a strange marriage of sport and theatre, but it somehow works. Set in the tiny country township of Bodgy Creek, the show features bogan accents, Afghani accents, and a radio broadcaster whose sponsors are as desperate as he is. Director Matt Parkinson calls Callinan a “natural storyteller, a gifted clown and terrific character actor” in his director's notes, and I couldn’t agree more.

The protests over the American film insulting the prophet Mohammed may be dominating the news, but Callinan’s show rips through these recent tensions, as it’s Australia’s brightest moments of multiculturalism that shine through. The coach enlists asylum seekers to fill the footy team and stop Bodgy Creek having to merge with their arch rivals, the Hudson’s Flat Redbacks, and we find ourselves laughing and crying with these foreigners who have found a home and new friends in regional Australia.

If you only like 'theatre' in the sense of plays and drama, then this might not be for you. In a combination between stand-up and theatre, Callinan breaks the fourth wall and makes friends with the audience by learning their names, planting jokes for later in a Ross Noble-esque manner. In this 75-minute show, we move between listening to Bodgy Creek radio, experiencing the footy team's coach Troy Carrington slag the teammates (coincidentally the audience members) and turn the team around, and seeing the action unravel through the (mimed) lens of a charmingly infantile documentary maker.

Though it could probably be enhanced with a few more props and a stagehand, The Merger is still a fun and well-devised show. Self-referential and softly mocking, Callinan jested at the size of the audience, stating "I'm really big in Melbourne, you know? Maybe you guys up here don’t know me as well..." It’s well worth getting to know him in this intimate space and clever production. But Callinan, despite your talent, you really are a bad ventriloquist — and your puppets probably told you that already.

Concrete Playground has two double passes to give away to The Merger. To be in the running, make sure you're subscribed to our mailing list then email hello@concreteplayground.com.au with your name and address.