Bennelong in London (Sydney Theatre Co) ★★★★

Written by Jane Harrison. World Premiere. Wharf 1 Theatre. Sydney Theatre Company. 18 Jul – 16 Aug, 2026.

Jane Harrison rewrites the established book on a key part of Australia’s colonial history, retelling the life of Bennelong from his own perspective and letting it ripple through time to 2026. But, you know, in a fun way.

In the suburbs of Parramatta, a thirty-something actor Sebastian Anderson (Guy Simon) is rushing home to do a self-tape audition. He wants to win the role of Bennelong in a new play, Bennelong in London (ooh meta!). Struggling to deliver his monologue into his phone, he off-handedly wishes the real Bennelong were there to help him out — and is shocked when Bennelong himself (Googoorewon Knox) appears before him, distinctly unimpressed with this NIDA graduate’s impersonation.

The historical Bennelong is known as the first Aboriginal man to travel to Europe and return to Australia. Beyond that, details are scarce, gleaned from reports written by early colonisers riddled with built-in bias and the racist assumptions of the time. Those written records are, in many ways, a fiction — an act of storytelling. With Bennelong in London, Harrison counters that narrative with a fiction of her own, one told from Bennelong’s point of view. It’s a balancing of the scales that asks us to think about the power of our stories.

To do so, Harrison sidesteps historical blame and heads for heart and humour. She plays with the man-out-of-time, odd-couple energy you’d find in sitcoms (it reminded me of episodes of Ghosts, or even bits of Bewitched) and it’s exactly what stops the play collapsing into a two-handed Wikipedia recitation. Bennelong himself speaks of his time and his captors with a forgiveness and perspective that keeps things light rather than accusatory.

This is a story, about a storyteller, hearing the story of another storyteller in order to tell the storyteller’s story. It’s in the onion-like layers of this narrative little tesseract that Bennelong in London has the most fun. Those in the acting profession will enjoy Harrison’s gleeful swipes at the industry’s more ludicrous affectations. Guy Simon is at his playful best as the actor chasing a gig. Bouncing off Bennelong’s impish provocations, he’s comedic foil and dramatic sounding board at once. As Bennelong, Googoorewon Knox brings intelligence and confidence to a figure history left mostly blank.

For much of the 90-minute running time I was happy just hanging out with these two, listening to the stories and banter, but it’s the final stretch — when director Ian Michael lets the drama and the storytelling escalate into something more theatrical — where the play truly lands. Trent Suidgeest’s lighting, Emma White’s stunning use of waratahs, James Peter Brown’s sound design, and Knox and Simon’s performances combine into something with real theatrical power. I wanted more of it.

Bennelong in London manages to stay warm and approachable while it talks about contentious moments in history, and that’s a balancing act that takes skill. Two entertaining performances, combined with technical excellence, prove that storytelling still has a real impact — oh, is that another layer to the onion? Damn, they’re clever…