ScoMo’s Sunday Service from the George Glass group is a superb example of creative and critical writing and is as humorous as it sounds. It delivers both sharp satirical jabs at the current government and a complete, well-paced narrative backstory about Scott Morrison allegedly s***ing his pants at a Maccas in 1997. In short, ScoMo’s Sunday Service is a one-act comedy play based entirely on a rumour.
Firstly, a bit of background for those who are not aware. The rumour goes that the current PM defecated in his pants at a McDonald’s after the Cronulla Sharks lost the 1997 NRL Grand Final. The rumour gained popularity during the early years of Scott Morrison’s time in office. It continues to be the subject of many jokes in Australian political comedy.
The play begins with a hymn at Hillsong, Scott’s regular church. The audience are given lyric slips to follow along as the minister leads them in song. The lyrics themselves range from being passive aggressive to nonsensical, botched old English. The minister then brings on Scott Morrison who begins to address the famous rumour. The play then transitions to a younger Scott Morrison in 1997 and covers the build up to the famous alleged accident.
The idea that God’s plan for Scott was that he would s*** his pants and then become PM is one which I’m sure he would find too ridiculous to believe in real life – at least I hope so. But in this world, Scott seems all too willing to accept his God-given duty to publicly humiliate himself.
He’s told by an angel that he will defecate in a location determined by God. Scott, upon hearing this, makes every effort to avoid having people see him perform his ‘miracle’. He sets up a border force (by nailing wood to his front door) and is constantly wearing an adult nappy. Despite all this effort, he is locked out of his home and forced to flee to a McDonald’s. The show ends with a charming but also filthy sequence in which Scott is dancing ballet style, half naked and smeared with his own s***. It’s not at all high-brow political commentary, and it never tries to be. But it is nevertheless one of the funniest and most outlandish things I’ve seen during this year’s Fringe.
To conclude, I would say that this is not a strong piece of political satire but more of a caricature of Scott Morrison. There is indeed a lot of political commentary throughout, but the ultimate focus of the play is on the Maccas rumour. That said, it’s certainly worth your time and money. It’s surprisingly a well-written narrative about Scott Morrison’s religious beliefs, his vanity, and the way he sees the business side of politics. But it’s really just a comedy play about Scotty filling his pants by accident. All that being the case, I enjoyed it very much and would recommend it to you without hesitation.
4.5/5 stars.