Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"...I suppose if you've had a tough week and enjoy the company of wacky, self-important Victorians, evoked with some panache and amusingly brought down a peg or three, then you could do worse than join "The Explorers Club," assuming you're down (as the Victorians used to say) with a conceptual play that does not entirely work, or really go anywhere worth exploring. You can have a drink - not unlike the characters, who have plenty of them, especially after they figure out that their indigenous guest is a better bartender than their regular chap."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...In short, here’s to “The Explorers Club,” Benjamin’s hilarious, sparklingly realized comedy, now in an effervescent production at Windy City Playhouse, the year-old Equity company whose spacious storefront is outfitted with cushy revolving chairs and an elaborate bar. (If you have yet to make its acquaintance, this show is the ideal place to start.)"
Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...Playwright Nell Benjamin erects easy targets for ridicule-self-congratulatory, myopic Victorian men (here a pack of pseudoscientists faced with the possibility of admitting a woman to their private club)-and tries to knock them down through farce. But the tenuous, underdeveloped plotting and two-note characters result in a middling, two-hour wacky sitcom largely devoid of the heightened stakes that make farce farcical."
Windy City Times - Highly Recommended
"...The cast triumphs by playing this fluff with nearly-deadpan earnestness, which is the only way to go. Given the largest roles, Goodrich and Imhoff are especially effective, with Goodrich playing arguably the only sane clubman, repeatedly trying to set things right. Tremendously athletic Daniel ( mostly in loincloth and body paint ) also is ingratiating while speaking hardly any English. Jeremy W. Floyd's costumes are lavish, colorful and highly-suggestive of the Victorian Era. Scott Davis' club setting is filled with appropriate rich details ( oriental carpets, animal heads ). Finally, Bell has engineered dazzling physical business-worthy of Lucy-involving glasses repeatedly caught in mid-air as bartender Luigi sends drinks sliding off the bar."
Time Out Chicago - Somewhat Recommended
"...The second act brings a few more chuckles as the action turns toward hiding Luigi from a revenge-minded representative of the crown and opportunities for more physical comedy present themselves. But still here there are stretches where the energy seems to leak out of the room, and Benjamin’s payoff is rather feeble. As discoveries go, Explorers is pretty minor."
Theatre By Numbers - Recommended
"...Don't assume that as a farce this show has nothing to say. While generally it is entertaining, silly fluff, the playwright has a wicked wit that skewers the misogynistic society of that time, as well as today. By the end of the play, only the woman is man enough to make sure that everything resolves itself as it ought."
Stage and Cinema - Somewhat Recommended
"...Frenetic and forced where Gilbert and Sullivan were clever and whimsical (and too proud to stoop to groaner puns and tedious wordplay like "whim-en"), the frantic action is, like the explorers, all over the map: We get snake attacks, monks who merrily kick the heads off their foes, the death of a guinea pig, the instant invention of a supersonic "airship," bilious boozing, a native cure for poisonous attacks, the fracas in the palace, and a plant that imitates Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors. Could anything be more desperate to please?"
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...The Explorers Club is a fresh take on Victorian satire of those British arrogant sexist, racist and misogynist Victorian values that made the Brits believe that they were the center of the world. This satiric spoof is cleverly construction and marvelously performed by the game cast. I especially like the work of Alex Goodrich as the comic leader with energetic and physically defy work by Wesley Daniel as the wild native. They anchor a true ensemble, funny farce. The laughs keep coming."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Somewhat Recommended
"...It's easy to see why this play should be funny and why Windy City Playhouse decided to do it. It's a wonderful showcase for a talented cast (which they have clearly managed to assemble), but it craves precision. While Bell's directorial hand has helped guide the actors to some very fun and quirky characters, the execution of the farce itself is lacking for most of the play. It drags and suffers and by the time the second act rolls around and pieces start to click into place, you're left wondering where that had been for the first half of the night."
Around The Town Chicago - Recommended
"...I have fallen in love with one of Chicago's "black box" theaters. It is The Windy City Playhouse" located on one of the busiest streets on the north side, Irving Park Road. This is an old warehouse or factory that has been gutted and re-shaped into a bustling theater that is launching its new season with an English Comedy, "The Explorers Club", a kind of silly "very British" comic look at a Gentlemen's Club and its members, written by Nell Benjamin. I will say, the script itself is lacking a bit, which is why the overall rating is "only" recommended."
The Fourth Walsh - Somewhat Recommended
"...I liked THE EXPLORERS CLUB. It’s cute and frothy! The last Windy City show SECOND CHAPTER was also a frothy rom-com. The problem is a theatre, especially a new theatre, can’t sustain itself on cute and frothy offerings. I’m cheering for Windy City Playhouse to establish itself as a solid addition to the Chicago theatre community. Their slick, stylish, swivel chairs provide the most comfortable theatre seating in town. Windy City Playhouse needs to match unique shows to their unique chairs."
