The one thing you should see this week: the tumultuous career of our 18th prime minister, in opera form

This week’s pick: Mulroney: The Opera

Mulroney: The Opera does not have the most sophisticated libretto (to wit: “I have the chin / I’m not afraid / I have the chin / I’m going to win”), and it does not have the most hummable score, unless you count Trudeau’s “Habañera” (hat tip, Bizet). What it does have is guts. Heaps of them.

Let’s put aside the question of what kind of satirical geniuses came up with the idea of an opera about Brian Mulroney in the first place. (And while we’re at it, let’s also put aside any Nixon in China comparisons—this is a very different beast). The more important question is, how did they even get it made? Answer: by treating the subject as light-heartedly as possible. Sure, director Larry Weinstein, librettist Dan Redican and composer Alexina Louie make fun of Mulroney’s famously inept cabinet, his Shamrock Summit, the epic fail that was Meech Lake and the Airbus scandal, but the creators execute this potential libel suit with a rakish song-and-dance smile and wink.

It’s hard to imagine our 18th prime minister getting all that fussed. This is the same man who sang “When Irish Eyes are Smiling” with Ronald Reagan, after all. He’s clearly got a sense of humour.

The details: April 27. $12.75. Various locations, mulroneytheopera.ca.