Reviews

A snappy, pacy farce, laced with lots of slapstick fun, director Tim Dennis’ tight, perfectly timed production of The Explorers Club at the Guild is two hours of bright, lively fun.

Looking down from upstage centre onto the audience, Queen Victoria’s portrait holds sway somewhat ironically over an impressive set depicting a 19th Century ‘gentlemen’s club’, its walls festooned with hunting trophies and other exotic treasures.

Vidya Rajan’s adaptation of Melina Marchetta’s novel fits snuggly into an even more multicultural Australia than Marcetta described in1992. Whilst it is retrospective, the story Marchetta tells is one that is still being experienced by girls – and boys – in families everywhere. Life is complex for young people, whatever their cultural or social background, and social media today adds complications that were never envisaged in the 1990s.

This exquisite performance is special in many ways. The extremely talented Swedish-Norwegian violinist, Johan Dalene, makes his debut in Australia alongside the renowned Australian pianist, Jennifer Marten-Smith. At the age of only 24 Dalene has already developed an astonishing career. He won the prestigious Carl Nielsen International Competition in 2019 and was recently named Artist-in-Residence with London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The program presented by Dalene in this concert is varied, romantic and dramatic.

Two friends hook up over an annual Hungry Ghost (Getai) festival to honour and pay respect to their grandfathers. Legends (Of the Golden Arches) is an entertaining and exciting piece of theatre.