Hot on the heels of her highly acclaimed Black is the New White, indigenous playwright Nakkiah Lui has written a searing political satire, sure to rip through the secret shenanigans of our political system.

Like all good satire with a pulse on the mood of the nation and the behind the scenes machinations of ambitious political aspirants, Lui’s How To Rule The World is fast, funny and furiously uncompromising in its view of our current politics and politicians.

Underpinning Lui’s deftly razor-edged talent for comedy is the bitter barb of protest and indignation. The plot is simple enough. Islander Chris (Anthony Taufa), Korean Zaza (Michelle Lim Davidson) and Vic (Nakkiah Lui) learn that the conservative Prime Minister of the day (Rhys Muldoon) is set to pass the Sovereign Territory Bill to effectively stop all migration, ignore the indigenous inhabitants of the land and take the country back to the dark days of the White Australia Policy.

They decide to stage an audition to find a white male stooge to stand as an Independent and stop the Bill from passing through the Senate. Fanciful? Perhaps. But that’s the stuff of satire, and the Sydney Theatre Company cast and creatives do it to perfection much to the delight of a partisan Canberra audience.

As the successful gauche auditionee, Lewis Lewis, transformed into puppet politician, Tommy Ryan, Hamish Michael turns in an hilarious comedic performance, bringing the house down with his audition version of Martin Luther King’s I Have A Dream speech.

Paige Rattray’s direction rockets along with hysterical stage business to keep the action alive with lightning timing . Muldoon’s Prime Minister is uncannily familiar, oozing fake mateship and oiled and greased with white male privilege and superiority.

Actors Vanessa Downing and Gareth Davies switch roles to play a thinly veiled parade of familiar characters including the trio’s racist drug dealer, PM minders, interviewers, quick change auditionees and even the plotters’ secret weapon at the end of the show.

Be careful of what you wish for. Actions have consequences. Power corrupts. Allies fall out. Leaks lead to disaster. Satire swirls in a whirlpool of irony as the creation turns on the creator. Lui emerges once again as a rising star of Australian satire.

How To Rule The World is refreshingly honest, powerfully relevant and pointedly direct in its exposure of the follies and vices of a society entrapped by its past, powerless in its present and struggling to forge a fair and just future.

Vic’s closing heartfelt monologue on loss presents a poignant comment on wrongs done and recompense denied. Against Lui’s farcical political escapade it stands as a powerful plea for empathy and equality for all and an urgent call to action.

Perhaps the satirist doth protest too much and Lui attempts to raise too many issues but with an election around the corner, How To Rule The World is a timely reminder of issues the nation faces. It will make you laugh. It might make you cry. It will make you think and and it is time to be seen.