A Prudent Man

A Prudent Man is the new five-star play looking at a fictional right-wing politician in the age of Trump, Abbott and Hanson, at Gardens Theatre, QUT on May 11-12.

“One man is all the politicians we love to hate”, says the tagline for the theatre work which knows its audience well – and it won’t be full of One Nation voters! Embodying the slogans, mannerisms and headlines of conservative politicians in recent times, the play is a one-man powerhouse performance from Lyall Brooks and is written and directed by Katy Warner.

Both have a swag of credentials, with Warner having been nominated for a Green Room Award as well as winning an AWGIE for children’s theatre with Reasons To Stay Inside. Brooks has received three Green Room nominations and most recently appeared in the Helpmann Award-nominated North By Northwest (Arts Centre Melbourne).

A Prudent Man takes an unapologetic look at a man both in control and on the edge. It asks, what would happen if his world – and the worlds of those other famous pollies mentioned above – started to shift ever so slightly? Even though it’s a purely speculative piece about a fictional person – an “ordinary, average” Aussie bloke espousing the “basic values” of the “the forgotten people” – it uses actual language that we’ve come to know so well from the pollies many of us love to hate.

With successful runs at the 2016 Melbourne Fringe Festival and the 2017 Perth Fringe World Festival, A Prudent Man took out the People’s Choice Award from over 400 productions, the WA Tour Ready Award and was nominated for Best Performance. It was also nominated for Best Writing at the 2016 Green Room awards and was selected to appear at the New York United Solo Festival. It’s sure to be a big hit in Brisbane as well.

Nice to know - There’ll be an Up Late post-show Q&A with Katy Warner and Lyall Brooks on Friday, May 11. There’ll be Up Late Monologue Masterclass performances on Saturday, May 12 after the show, where participants of a masterclass with Lyall Brooks perform their 2-3 minute monologues.

Need to know - Recommended for ages 16+.

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By Vicki Englund

QUT Gardens Theatre is a valued partner of Must Do Brisbane.com