Since it first appeared in what was then the Nimrod Theatre, now the Belvoir, The Elocution of Benjamin Franklin, with Simon Burke in the role of Robert O’Brien, resonates with the impact that it had 50 years ago.
From the pen of the late enfant terrible of Australian theatre, steve j. spears, in 1976 it was a cause célèbre that became the role of a lifetime role for actor Gordon Chater, and now is poised to elevate Burke to his rightful place as one of our greatest stage actors.
Just 24 when he wrote the script, spears was a straight guy working in university and fringe theatre, mainly in Melbourne.
He had little to no experience of the world about which he wrote in Benjamin, but few have come as close to representing its complexities and dangers while succeeding to giving its protagonist a fully fledged and rounded personality.
The Elocution of Benjamin Franklin (for this production) opens in a small house in Sydney’s inner-east suburb of Double Bay.
The single on-stage character, Robert O’Brien, is naked when we first see him, prancing in front of a photo of Mick Jagger, going the full Mick to the Bowie track of The Jean Genie.
We quickly learn that he is an elocution teacher, mainly to the children of the area’s rich parents, was once married, and is now a practicing transvestite whose only close friend is the married stock broker, Bruce, who likes to step out with O’Brien while he is in drag.
Enter Mrs Franklin, a Double Bay mother from hell, and her young son Benjamin, a 12-year-old with a pack a day smoking habit and curiosities and secrets that are slowly revealed through the course of the play.
O’Brien is smitten, not only by the boy’s name, but also his looks and demeanour, which only increase when Benjamin confesses to be having an affair with a 16-year-old male.
O’Brien’s neighbours have already seen him in drag, and now their suspicions are further raised, take a vigilante stance by smashing his window.
The cops arrive and catch O’Brien burning photos given to him by Benjamin, and in the third and final act we see O’Brien confined to a mental hospital.
Burke has made this role his own, displaying the depth of his stage craft as his character navigates an extraordinary emotional arc producing sympathy, revulsion, anger and most effectively, we feel sympathy for his final physical and mental state.
Our eyes do not leave him for a moment as he engages us with his story, even though its subject and course is outside most people’s experiences, as he takes us on a journey of showing us the inside of the outsider.
Director Declan Greene has taken the legacy of original director Richard Wherrett and made it his own. Greene keeps the play well paced, even when O’Brien becomes reflective, and never lets interest in the character flag.
While keeping close to the original music cues and with the placement of a rotary dial phone in O’Brien’s house, Greene has managed to give this fifty-year-old play a timeless feel that makes it message of tolerance against political, sexual intolerances and its ultimate creation of social isolation even stronger.
Along with Burke’s performance, this show for Griffin Theatre is a testament to steve j. spears prescient and empathetic script written all those years ago. Not much has changed since, and that is a lesson for all of us.
The Elocution of Benjamin Franklin
Downstairs Theatre – Belvoir St Theatre, 25 Belvoir Street Surry Hills
Performance: Friday 27 February 2026
Season continues to 29 March 2026
Information and Bookings: www.griffintheatre.com.au
Images: Simon Burke stars in The Elocution of Benjamin Franklin – photos by Brett Boardman
Review: John Moyle