Open your ears for this interview with Alexei Toliopoulos and Zachary Ruane on Refused Classification
They made a bonkers live David and Margaret censorship docu-comedy show.
What, is it CHRISTMAS? (No, it's Easter.) Either way, there's a BONUS episode of RTRFM’s Movie Squad podcast out this week, and it’s of special relevance to subscribers who know me best as author of Book of the Banned: Devilish Movies, Dastardly Censors and the Scenes That Made Australia Sweat.
My co-host Tristan Fidler and I recently caught up with Alexei Toliopoulos and Zachary Ruane about their live show REFUSED CLASSIFICATION, in which they play bewigged versions of film critic royalty Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton (beautifully, I might add). We laughed a lot and talked about film criticism, film censorship and their show’s latent psychosexual drama. Listen here already!
Now, if the phrase ‘refused classification’ sounds familiar, perhaps it’s because you read it one million times in my book. (OK I just checked and I actually only used it 84 times.) Accordingly, their show by the same name is a fusion of stand-up, documentary, protest and audacious verbatim theatre that sees Alexei and Zach relaying (and replaying) Margaret’s iconic stoush against the authorities as she attempted to screen Ken Park in 2003, after it had been ‘refused classification’ banned.
I actually got to catch the show in Melbourne last week, but my story with Alexei and Zach begins in August 2024… and I’ll tell you more about it as soon as I get through the following plugs:
Alexei and Zach’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival run has basically sold out though there are still tickets remaining for their show on Saturday 19 April. They bring Refused Classification to Boorloo for the Perth Comedy Festival, playing The Rechabite on Friday 9 May. Get your tix now and follow them on socials to see when it’s coming to a town near you!
Zach is, of course, one leg of the indomitable Aunty Donna tripod, and Alexei is the host of The Last Video Store podcast. So, I knew of them both very well and was excited and surprised when they reached out to me last year. They had found Book of the Banned while researching a nascent project they were developing about Margaret and David (with “a focus on the whole Ken Park thing”), and wanted to tee up a chat.
A really fun and thoughtful conversation followed, and I felt really privileged to speak with them at length about the themes of the book—which are neatly encapsulated by “the whole Ken Park thing”—and the continued relevancy of the censorship issue in 2025. I won’t get into all that here, as the boys very generously shout me out during the show and share my answers on stage. (They also pointed me out to the audience at the end of the show I attended, and asked me to say where people can find Book of the Banned. I meekly said “bookstores” when I should have of course said bookofthebanned.com).
I honestly felt very personally moved to not only be mentioned during quite an emotionally poignant part of the production, but to be surrounded by an audience reacting so strongly to a subject I have long been devoted. If only literally one book publisher had the same foresight as Alexei and Zach, I wouldn’t have had to publish it independently, I’M KIDDING FOLKS, I LOVE BEING AN INDEPENDENT AUTHOR, AUS-LIT IS ALREADY DEAD!
Anyway, don’t let all this mushy bragging get in the way of me saying Refused Classification is a wonderfully funny and brazenly bizarre piece of theatre that I wholeheartedly recommend. I laughed my ASS OFF and if you have read my book or at the very least subscribed to my Substack, you will too. But in its own humble and extremely filthy way, it reminded me of a quote I used in BOTB from theatrical director John Tasker (who had his own issues with the Australian censors), originally spoken in 1970:
If a play arrives and the country is ready for it, then it is out of date. The theatre should be the leader in thoughts and values. It should be one of the most responsible components of community life. When theatre is recognised as the art in which we speak most directly to each other, there will be as little need for censorship as there is in the bedroom.
Given the (mainstream) Australian theatrical scene is largely composed of decades-late American imports and cutesy-cringe colonial comedies, Refused Classification felt like a genuine dramaturgical breath of fresh air, and not just because there’s a bit where Zach runs around screaming “sucking and f***ing” at the audience.
I got to catch up with Alexei and Zach after the show and told them how highly I thought of it, though I also admitted that I have long believed theatre should a) be about my niche personal interests and b) interrupt proceedings to say nice things about me, specifically. So, I may be the best audience they ever get. Regardless, you should go see the thing too. Scroll back up to buy your tickets at the links.
Just one more thing…
Tristan (aka VHS Tracking) has a Trash Classics screening at Luna Palace Cinemas next Friday 25 April: the horny sci-fi ex-splatter-ganza From Beyond, starring Barbara Crampton. I’ve never seen it but am excited to catch all the viscera (hopefully not literally). Join me!
