Built to last
In high demand thanks to her popular series Fisk, Kitty Flanagan chats with Siobhan Duck about the new season of Utopia and the enduring popularity of the workplace comedy
PEOPLE keep asking Kitty Flanagan if the creative team behind Utopia has a mole working inside the Government. The reason for the frenzied speculation is that the plotlines of the ABC comedy have regularly mirrored news headlines since it launched in 2014.
“The [news] stories would come out and we would have done the story the week before on Utopia,” Flanagan says wryly.
“It was insane. And I look forward to it happening again [with season five]. I kind of feel like I know what’s happening in the world of politics just because I work on Utopia.”
It’s a similar story of art imitating life on Fisk, the hugely popular comedy Flanagan co-writes with her sister Penny about a suburban law practice specialising in wills and estates.
“We have this trouble on Fisk – much like Utopia – where I don’t think people will believe it [because it seems so absurd],” she says.
“You know that is real and it did happen, but it seems so far-fetched if you put it on the TV show… all the stuff we do on Fisk is based on reality.”
Of course, you don’t have to be a probate lawyer or a bureaucrat to appreciate shows like Fisk and Utopia. From the OTT café in Fisk through to Utopia’s smart fridge (which can do everything except keep a carton of milk cold), both shows spotlight the petty irritations that many of us face every day.
“I think both Working Dog and myself seem to be able to pinpoint the things that annoy everybody,” she says.
“Whether that means that we’re easily annoyed, I don’t know, but we do spot those little things that make a lot of people also go ‘Oh, that’s so annoying!’.”
Now in its fifth season, Utopia follows fed-up bureaucrat Tony Woodford (Rob Sitch) and his fictional National Building Authority team as they try to cut through red tape to get construction projects greenlit.
“What’s so clever about Utopia is that they have the government storyline running, which a lot of people can relate to, she says.
“In fact, and a lot of people can relate that storyline way too much (especially if they work in government departments) and often find the show more of a documentary than comedy.
“But there’s also so much in it for people who don’t necessarily work in government, but work in an office because every office goes through those same things.”
Before Utopia, Flanagan had worked in stand-up and sketch comedy. She was both delighted and mildly terrified when her long-time comedy heroes approached her with an offer that was too good to refuse.
Like so many Australians of a certain vintage, Flanagan spent many hours laughing at Sitch,
Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner and
Jane Kennedy – on shows like
The D-Generation, Frontline and
The Late Show.
Decades later, Flanagan was delighted when that same creative team – now known as Working
Dog – asked her to join Utopia after admiring her work on The Project, Full Frontal and The Micallef P(r)ogram(me).
“They approached me and said: ‘Would you like to be in this show playing a person called Rhonda?’” she recalls.
“And I said: ‘Well, I haven’t really done any acting except in sketch. So, I’m happy to come and audition’ and they said: ‘Oh we are not doing auditions, do you want the role?’
“And I said: ‘Oh, OK. But it’s on your head if I am terrible’.”
Flanagan proved far from “terrible”. In fact, she shines as the cut-and-dry public relations manager Rhonda. This is a woman who is always worrying about appearances and, as such, has the legal team on speed dial to micromanage even something as mundane as a casual farewell lunch.
Flanagan likens Utopia to a “welloiled machine” that records at a fast pace. With so many clever comics on set there’s always room for adlibbing, but the cast mostly sticks to the razor-sharp scripts.
“There is a real rhythm – almost music – to comedy in that you need a script in shows like Utopia and Fisk,” she explains.
“Certainly, in the case of Fisk we never call cut. We just let people keep going and that’s when people can start ad-libbing and that’s when we get some of our best stuff.”
The Working Dog team has a knack for championing the very best funny people in the industry, showcasing their skills with roles that seem tailor-made for the artist.
“Which is possibly slightly insulting to me,” Flanagan says with signature selfdeprecation about being tapped to play Rhonda.
“So, they had the role of
Nat and thought: ‘We need someone with integrity, let’s get Celia Pacquola’
“Then, ‘Now, who do we know that’s a real arsehole [for the role of Rhonda]. Let’s get Kitty Flanagan, she’ll be a natural’.”
The success of Utopia is partly what gave Flanagan the confidence to pen Fisk.
Flanagan won the Most
Popular Actress Logie for her performance as Helen Tudor-Fisk, the disgruntled lawyer with a penchant for brown suits.
“I’ve had so many people coming along to my stand-up shows now who had never been before but they are coming because they liked what they saw on Fisk,” she says.
“It’s probably been a bit shocking for them. They see me walk out and go ‘She’s not wearing a brown suit, what’s going on?’”
While – as the show’s star, writer and director – Flanagan has understandably been singled out for praise for Fisk’s success, the comic is quick to emphasise that it is a group effort.
“I am so fortunate I to get to do both [stand-up and ensemble comedies like Utopia and Fisk] because both light me up in different ways,” she says.
“I absolutely love the autonomy of going out on stage by myself, saying whatever I want knowing it’s all on me… it’s really risky and comes with a very high stress level… What I love about the ensemble is that you are sharing the load as much as you are sharing the applause.
“You get so much from working with other people. Your own stuff lifts. Especially in things like Fisk and Utopia, where you’re surrounded by amazing funny people, you just feel, I’ve got to be good. I’ve got to be better than good because I’ve got to match everybody else.”
Just as the Working Dog crew did on Utopia, Flanagan has gathered a group of close pals to join her on the series both as the core cast and in cameos.
She wrote the role of the tightly wound Roz Gruber specifically for Julia Zemiro. While her mate Marty Sheargold won the role of Roz’s laidback brother, Ray, with an audition that left Flanagan floored. Glenn Robbins, Sam
Pang, Dave O’Neill, Denise Scott and Marg Downey have also made appearances.
“I think I have used up every comedian that I know now,” she laughs.
“I have used up all my favours.”
Utopia, Wednesday, 8pm, ABC TV and streaming, ABC iview