Jimmie the Beatle PREVIEW ONLY 20 Nov - Sun 6 Dec 2026

 NBL: This is  a preview of this local production. It is NOT review.

 Jimmie the Beatle written by Tim Byron

Produced by Frankston Theatre Company

At: MECC. Mount Eliza Community Centre  90-100 Canadian Bay Road, Mount Eliza

 Fri 20 Nov  - Sun 6 Dec 2026

Fri & Sat 8pm, Sunday 2pm Tickets at TryBooking 

 Cabaret style seating, 8 per table

If you love the Beatles or live on the Mornington Peninsula or in the southern suburbs of Melbourne, this is a show for you. 

Jimmie the Beatle (the band); image supplied

 The play (from the Media Release)

"When Ringo fell ill, history found Jimmie Nicol.

"This is the story of Jimmie Nicol – the drummer who briefly became a Beatle.

"When Ringo Starr was hospitalised with tonsillitis on the eve of the band’s 1964 world tour, manager Brian Epstein made a frantic call that changed Nicol’s life. Despite George Harrison’s wish to postpone, Nicol was recruited to keep the show on the road. For two extraordinary weeks, he toured Denmark, the Netherlands, Hong Kong and Australia – stepping from obscurity to global fame and then back again, all in a fortnight at the height of Beatlemania."

Written by Tim Byron.
Co-directors Tim Byron and Eleni Rogers.

Cabaret seating - so BYO wine & beer, cheese platters, charcuterie boards, fruit platters. We will provide the wine glasses & serviettes, as well as complimentary tea and coffee for your enjoyment.

 

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The Gospel According to Paul–REVIEW–20 Oct 2026 ****

COMEDY THEATRE

The Gospel According to Paul by Jonathan Biggins

At Playhouse, Arts Centre Melbourne, 20 Oct to 1 Nov 2026

Reviewer: Kate Herbert

Stars: ****

This review is published only on this blog. I’ll present a radio review on Arts Weekly, 3MBS, Sat 7 Nov 2026. KH

Jonathan Biggins as Paul Keating (Bob Hawke on screen.)

      

Jonathan Biggins’ one-man show, The Gospel According to Paul, is insightful, incisive, witty and sometimes surprisingly poignant depiction of Paul Keating, the man and his politics.

 

Biggins’ writing is sharply observed and his performance, deftly directed by Aarne Neeme, is masterly. The opening night audience appeared to be mostly Keating followers: representatives of the educated, grey haired, left-leaning brigade that remember how Keating and Hawke changed the face of Australian politics!

 

Keating’s acerbic wit may seem a political world away, but Biggins accurately and uncannily embodies the man and peppers the show with Keating’s infamously scathing parliamentary barbs that were directed at hapless MPs.

 

As Biggins says as Keating, leaders need imagination and courage; they cannot merely talk about what they want to do but must actually do it - even if this means making unpopular decisions.

Jonathan Biggins as Paul Keating

Perhaps I’m misremembering, but this play reminds me of what political debate, political philosophy and left-wing politics used to be.

 

Such political debate seems to be replaced by opinions masquerading as fact, while politicians, commentators, media and social media babblers aim for sound bites, slogans and mudslinging.

 

Is it my rose-coloured glasses again or were past leaders more statesmanlike?

 

The production, set in a stately study with leather chairs and deep red walls (designer: Mark Thompson) weaves laugh-out-loud satire with details of Keating’s political roots in the Labor Party and his rise to MP, Treasurer, then Prime Minister and tempers it all with some gentler, more personal stories.

 

A quirky song and dance routine as a finale, reminds us that this is comedy with a smattering of vaudeville. Keating was after all a showman – and so is Biggins. Now, there’s a match made in political comedy heaven!

 

By Kate Herbert

Cast

Performed by Jonathan Biggins

 

Creative Team

Writer: Jonathan Biggins

Director: Aarne Neeme

Designer: Mark Thompson

Lighting Designer: Verity Hampson

Sound and Video Designer: David Bergman

 

 

 

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