“If you are willing to be taken on the journey, you will experience an artfully entertaining evening of awe and leave the theatre feeling spellbound“ –
Vincent Andriano
3.5 /5 stars
World-renowned mentalist Scott Silven has returned to Australia with his show ‘Wonders’ at the Sydney Opera house. It is an evening of mindful illusions where our enigmatic host invites his audience to “unlock your imaginations”, and leaves us asking: “How does he do it?! How could he possibly have known that?!”
Arguably the most potent trick the suave Scotsman performs is found in the show’s personal narrative through line. Silven beguiles us with tales of his youthful safe space, the hours he would spend in his grandparent’s attic, and his unique efforts to find a deeper mental connection to the stars and the world around him. The set is designed to reflect this memory – a worn leather armchair, two other ancient looking seats, an easel mounted with blank cardboard and end tables of dusty props. The audience is successfully invited into the treasured, mystical hide-away and encouraged to open our minds to the same childlike sense of wonder. In tandem with a healthy dose of smoky ambiance and sweeping beams of light, the stage is perpetually awash in otherworldliness – or perhaps exposing a new angle of THIS world that we wouldn’t ordinarily see on our own.
As promised, Silven uses his compelling mentalism to unite the whole crowd on a shared cognitive journey. From the get-go, he points out that our respective lives have serendipitously led 300 strangers to be together in this moment and it will be through the power of this connection that he will achieve his miraculous feats. The entire audience participates, and some were even welcomed on stage for Silven to tap further into their energies and unearth what their minds were concealing in accordance with game-like challenges. We would scribe personally meaningful words on cards that were then shuffled, handed out through the crowd again, randomly picked by fellow audience members, and Silven would accurately guess what was written on the card they happen to receive. He correctly sensed locations, symbols, and dates that certain guests were implored not to reveal to him but only think and focus on so that he may engage with their concentration and nothing more. Even a gentleman named Bruce coincidentally chose one envelope out of five, only to read the note inside which said: “The person who opens this envelope will be called ‘Bruce’.”
Silven uses the term “illusions” frequently, which, I’ll admit, naturally pricked my inner sceptic and I couldn’t completely silence that little voice of logic from thinking: “well this is how that was probably done… Not sure I entirely buy that one.” However, for the most part I was pleasantly swept away by the sheer spectacle of it all. I was surrounded by gasps of oohs and ahhs and even caught myself at one point stifling an audible: “WOW!” followed by well-deserved applause. And though I was never picked to go on stage, I certainly had my eager hand up every time we were asked, which I suppose means I was pretty hooked. If you are willing to be taken on the journey, you will experience an artfully entertaining evening of awe and leave the theatre feeling spellbound. As I departed, into the dazzling lights of Sydney Harbour’s Vivid Festival, I couldn’t help but think of how Silven described the serendipity of our presence there and then. It was, in fact, only by an incidentally confluence of events that I happened to attend the show at all that night – perhaps it was written in the stars. Overall, colour me impressed.
Vincent Andriano, Theatre Now
Scott Silven: Wonders will be playing in the Opera House’s Playhouse from 14 – 26 June 2022.
