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Review: Prospect Terrace - Pip Theatre

Written by Grace Wilson

As the weather gets colder, staying indoors and seeking comfort with our family and friends becomes more and more common. This is why Pip Theatre’s Prospect Terrace is a great show to snuggle up and get comfy with, while also exploring some hard hitting questions. 

The show follows the story of Jack, an older man living in his family home Prospect Terrace, with his youngest daughter, Bunny, and is visited occasionally by his older daughter Pepper. For a four person show, this show doesn’t stray away from exploring the world itself surrounding the house, including mentions of the estranged younger brother of the family, Rob, the house nurse, Sky, and Pepper’s estranged daughter, Meagan. As Jack ages, we see the idea of money start to impact both Pepper and Bunny as they grapple and argue over what is best for their dying father, and how can they both move on again.

Directed by Bronwyn Nayler, the performance works very well in the intimate space of Pip Theatre. Nayler makes big and bold choices in staging that help draw the audiences eye to every part of the stage. Some of the choices, however, felt a little repetitive and safe in a few areas of the performance - leaving the audience prepared for who and what would come next. It would have been interesting to see Nayler use more of Pip’s features to their advantage and vary the way characters exit and enter, and move about the theatre.

Within this performance, stand out performances were given by Steven Grives as Jack and Natasha McDonald as Pepper. Grives gives Jack an insightful depth and rawness that develops and shows with this age, exploring the world through the eyes of an aging man. They drew audiences in effectively and showed a clear development in his physicality which helped place the time and location of each scene. McDonald as Pepper was comedic, using hilarious delivery and titbids to add so much character to Pepper. They controlled the stage with their presence and explored a wide variety of emotions in the two hour play, with a mature insight into each of her choices. Samantha Proctor as Bunny gave so much heart to their performance, showing how much Bunny truly does care for her father, but the developments we see Bunny go through on stage lacks in some areas. Bernadette Pryde’s performance as Dolores was light hearted and funny to experience, with an incredible physicality that Pryde clearly researched and played with prior to the season. However, it felt like Pryde gave no down time to Dolores, and many of their actions and lines felt shallow and repetitive the more we came to expect them. Regardless, Pryde brought energy and life to each of the performers that should be applauded. 

Lighting and projection design by Noah Milne was simplistic and allowed the performers to truly take centre stage. The projections in this work, however, felt a little last minute and served no real purpose and came across as jarring when they would randomly appear. Sound design by Dan Hallen amplified the whole show, using songs that we all know and love to get the audience up and dancing. Once again, a few choices made here felt repetitive and on the nose with the same three or four sounds looped over and over, but this choice can be looked past. Set design by Brigitte Bennet really brought all three elements together, capturing the charm of an old Queenslander from the old dining room set and chaise lounge, to the cabinets full of old things and dusty pictures on the wall. Working hand in hand with light and sound, together these three creatives develop an image that supports both the text and the actors which is brilliant to see.

Pip Theatre’s Prospect Terrace is the perfect show to cuddle up and watch as the nights get colder. It explores issues that are barely ever addressed in mainstream media, let alone the theatre. If you’re looking to learn and be entertained, to laugh and also cry - Prospect Terrace is the show for you this winter.

Prospect Terrace runs until the 22nd of June at Pip Theatre, tickets can be purchased here

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