In London’s Parliament Square last October, teenage activist Greta Thunberg spoke of the urgent need to face the climate emergency: “It is time to rebel.” That was a clarion call for peaceful protest. The Australian eco-warriors in this satire feel that such calls have fallen on deaf ears, so they decide to hold the country’s environmental minister hostage at a Fleetwood Mac concert in Australia’s Parliament House.

There are wooden guns, fake walkie-talkies and coded language between the climate extremists that draws on musical references (“Donna Summer paging the Ronettes”). There are also a few shocking fatalities as they take their radical action.

Despite its comic setup, the questions underlying the play are serious and radical. What are the limits of peaceful protest? What is needed to provoke governments out of wilful blindness?

Entwined into this drama is metacommentary by the playwright, David Finnigan, who reflects on the hostile reception his play received for its title when he first tried to stage it in Australia. He explains his draft stages of writing, the making of a prop and lectures us earnestly about the climate.

His words sound redundant and repetitive, and the interruptions slow down the momentum of the hostage plot. The comedy feels stalled by it, too. Australian comedian Felicity Ward plays the environment minister, Gwen Malkin, and she is a charismatic performer. There is sparkling chemistry between her and Kelly Paterniti, who plays her slick social media assistant.

They make Instagram videos in the hostage situation, more concerned with image-making than truth, politics or climate change, and set them to old-school house and rave music before posting online. The social media satire is clever and pointed, while Bec Hill is winning as the wild-eyed, “sexy but dangerous” climate terrorist.

The shootouts and knife fights between these parties are set to music and dance, and the physical comedy in them is the highlight of the production. While Kill Climate Deniers is a bold play with some energetic writing, it sets up edgy themes that ultimately feel underdeveloped and frustrated by metatheatrics.