In 1965 there doesn’t seem to be too much going on in the ranks of the South Bendigo Communist Party. Slow Tribune sales are causing consternation and the local Maoist’s Chinese slide nights are a perpetual thorn in their side – even the presence of a young recruit Martin Porter has done little to inject life into the weekly grind. While Martin’s mum frets about his inexplicable abandonment of the church, short hair and the army reserve, George and Eli Tassekis welcome him into their family like a second son.

But Martin is an ASIO spy and he’s about to get his new friends into serious trouble.

Melbourne playwright Melissa Reeves has always had a gift for marrying whimsical comedy with an astute understanding of how politics works at a micro-level in Australia. Based on a true story from county Victoria, this beautifully observed piece is her finest play: a sad story hilariously told in true Gogolian style. Neil Armfield directed Tom Long’s Company B debut as the eponymous Spook.