Politicians making a song and dance

There has been a proliferation of home-grown musicals in Wellington this year. And while Backyard Productions' Right Dishonourable may not be the best ever written, it has much to commend it.

As the title suggests, the show is about politicians, in a land called Freedonia, where a snap election has been called due to scandals besetting the incumbent Liberty Party and its leader.

For some curious reason the characters all speak with North American accents yet the parliamentary system they portray is very much based on that here. The opposition Liberals form an alliance with the minor fringe parties, which it turns out, is to their detriment.

When leader Lewis Wade Gordon (Kenneth Robert Gaffney) is out on the hustings he is interviewed by no- nonsense journalist Patty McGough (Zoe Towers) but these two soon form their own alliance.

Meanwhile, the Liberty Party has promoted third- generation politician Richard Gideon (Ben Emerson) to leader. Initially he has difficulty convincing the punters he is a straight politician, but his wife Dinah (Karen Anslow), a latent dominatrix, soon knocks him into shape.

Also vying to be prime minister is Vermin Supreme (Daniel Pooley), similar in extremism and eccentricity to the McGillicuddy Serious Party.

And so as election day looms, the overall winner is anyone's guess, and the result surprises everyone.

Although the humour is funny rather than hilarious, writers Cassandra Tse (who also directs) and Bruno Shirley (musical director) have put together an intriguing, if at times a little confusing, story. And the cast, with a chorus of six to support the principals, perform with loads of energy.

All the songs are relevant to the storyline and move it along, with the lyrics adding much to the portrayal of individual characters.

And although the cast don't always cope with the changing rhymes and the harmonies sometimes don't quite work, there is enough in the music to make the show musically entertaining and well worth seeing.

Right Dishonourable by Cassandra Tse and Bruno Shirley, directed by Tse, musical direction by Shirley Gryphon Theatre, Wellington, until July 27.