Urinetown | Phoenix Ensemble

My advice for anyone going to see Urinetown by Phoenix Ensemble would be to lean into it. It took me a minute to suspend my disbelief enough to sit comfortably in this ridiculous musical world, but once I did, this show delighted me.

In the second act a character makes a remark about no one wanting to come and see a musical called urinetown, but I was drawn to how silly it sounded and I was not disappointed.  The theater had been painted with graffiti slogans like 'peeing is a privilege' and 'if you pee something say something.' and it was an excellent signpost for the story to come.

Urinetown is a satire first and foremost and it takes the piss (ha) out of the musical genre, as well as tackling topics like political corruption, climate change and a class war. But it was definitely better at satirising musicals than it was tackling big political issues. The setting of a post water-war dystopia where the poor can't afford to use public bathrooms felt like a thin shell around the bulk of the story and the comedy.

The story followed Bobby Strong, the young leader of the bathroom based revolution, and Hope Caldweld, the daughter of the evil CEO gathering profits from privately owned public amenities. There's a cheesy romance plot, a violent revolution and it's loaded with clever references to other musicals. All this ridiculousness is where the production really shone.

All images by PIF Productions.

The script was funny and well delivered by a stellar cast. Officer Lockstock and Little Sally, the two fourth wall breaking narrators, didn't always have me laughing, but with the musical being so fast paced I genuinely appreciated their signposting of major plot points and I probably would have felt a little lost without them. Everytime I felt a little lost I was pulled back in by a well placed Les Mis reference or a side splitting physical gag. There were a few jokes that had me genuinely rocking in my seat.

The musical performances were fantastic as well. The cast was accompanied by a live band that really elevated the whole show, and interacted with the characters in ways that fit really well and made the whole audience laugh. The same could be said for the choreography and dance, it was sharp, well placed and well executed. Frantic jazz moves or hip thrusts might have been ill fitted to a story about resource hoarding and capitalism, but it was exactly that contrast that made otherwise funny scenes hilarious.

The contradiction between serious political topics and a comedy musical was well balanced through the majority of the show. I was definitely paying more attention to the slapstick and cheesy dialogue than I was the climate message, that aspect of it wasn't integral to my viewing of the work. Until the very end that is.

I found the ending of the story pretty difficult to keep up with, and it’s in the ending that Urinetown chooses to deliver its biggest thematic punch. The closing line is delivered by all characters, holding up a fist as they chant "Hail Malthus''. It definitely shocked me and completely re-directed my thinking away from the comedy and towards the political content, which was powerful but also a little bizarre to throw in right at the end.

All images by PIF Productions.

Thomas Malthus was a 18th century English economist who is best known for his theory that, left unchecked, population growth will always doom mankind to famine and disaster. In modern times this theory has been proven false and personally, modern arguments that posit population growth is the root cause of climate and resource issues infuriate me. I could write so many more words about why that is the case but this is just to say that the line 'hail malthus' elicited a strong reaction.

In this case that strong reaction wasn't a bad thing, even if I found it a little jarring. It was wonderful to be able to view such a thematically complex work that was also so entertaining. Phoenix Ensemble is a little far away from where I live but Urinetown was well worth the trip over to Beenleigh. I think the whole production was a wonderful example of how much fun community theater can be and how much value there is in making these kinds of thought provoking stories accessible in smaller, independently run spaces. I don’t think I would have enjoyed the show as much on a bigger stage, you could really feel all of the hard work the cast and crew were pouring into it.

 Phoenix Ensemble did an amazing job and I am definitely going to be heading back out to the Tin Shed for their next production.

‘Urinetown’ plays at the Beenleigh Showgrounds until 27 May 2023.