Damian Callinan: The Merger

There are times when Damian Callinan's The Merger doesn't seem like a one-man show, so vividly-sketched are the comic actor's characters and so swift his changeovers between them. The Merger, a sort-of-semi-sequel to vintage Callinan show Sportsman's Night, sees him inhabit a gang of rich characters linked by a failing country town footy team, the Bodgy Creek Roosters. There's irascible onetime sporting hero Bull; the team's lefty, new-agey coach/captain Troy, who counts reps in English, French and Auslan and spouts Shakespearean sledges on-field; a ten-year-old wannabe documentary filmmaker; and Said, an Afghan refugee resettled in Bodgy Creek who coincidentally learnt to be a gun footy player while locked up on Nauru for four years. There are even a couple of puppets, and some members of the audience are even drawn in by Troy to fill pairs of boots. 

Callinan's premise is a doozy: what if the floundering team's only options were to merge with their dead-set rivals, the Hudson's Flat Cougars, or make up the numbers using asylum seekers? The notion that Aussie sporting pride can make a bunch of occasionally casually racist smalltowners put aside their cultural differences in the name of sticking it to the 'blues' is deliciously plausible and makes for a stirring story. The time Callinan has invested in coming up with a complete history of Bodgy Creek, with its stump, tiny clock face, quirky local radio station and closed-down pulp mill is a joy, as he peppers the show with little detailed tidbits of colour that make this fiction seem so real. Rather than being overt and in-your-face, the comedy is clever and subtle and encourages (indeed, requires) investment in the story. The scene-changes are sharply written, punctuated by a spotlighted footy-shaped radio blaring out ads for local stores and spruiking local events such as a night with bush poet Bruce Nation, author of Teeny Weeny Poofter Greeny and other such classics.

Callinan pulls off the tightrope-walk between observational humour and social commentary on a hot-button Australian issue, and the delightful transformation of Bodgy Creek from a dying town to a refreshed multicultural melting pot where the pub does steak with Szechuan sauce and there's a prayer room next to the change room does more to support asylum seekers than any pollie ever has.    

The Merger has the genius premise, the timely relevance and the charm to go beyond a mere stage show and find new life as a film script or, ideally, a Chris Lilley-alike sitcom.

So there you have it: racism, tackled. Now, if Callinan wants another challenge, he should pen his next show sorting out Australia's widest cultural gulf and bitterest clash of beliefs: Carlton fans versus Collingwood fans.  

Damian Callinan: The Merger is at Brisbane Powerhouse until Sunday 17 March.