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The Pyramid
Presented by:
Three to a
Room
Reviewer:
Angela Ellis
Date Reviewed:
29/1/2010
Set in any ordinary
Australian house, on any ordinary street with a husband & wife that
you may not look twice at if you passed them, the Pyramid is a tale
of secrets, desire, love lost & love found.
Jack & Kate live in
suburbia with their Scottish terrier Pete. A seemingly happy
marriage to anyone on the outside, they have grown further and
further apart as Kate finally relents with her struggle over her
sexuality. She is ready to leave and begin her new life filled with
the travel & adventure & love she has always desired, but is Jack
ready to let her go?
Directed by
Aimee Blesing, the set is minimal, the
effects the same which ensures the story has the desired impact
needed. You can allow yourself to focus on the story without too
much distraction. It had an easy rhythm & flow & the build up
towards the surprising turn of events at the end was wonderfully
directed.
While the story is
told through 3 monologues, it is still very much an ensemble piece.
Each story cleverly written to intertwine with the next.
Opening with Jack(
played by the talented Don Bridges), he could be anyone’s neighbour,
that bloke that will pop his head over the fence for a chat but
always stays a little longer than you would like.
Jacks story is of
the love he feels for his wife although he lives in a land of
blissful ignorance to her real wants and needs. He truly believes he
has done enough for her & makes you believe the same. You like him
in spite of yourself; he makes you laugh with him not at him as you
so much want to. You empathise with him even though your gut
instinct is not too.
Kate, played with
warmth by Felicity Steel, shares her deepest secrets with us. Her
loss of her first true love & the building excitement of the next,
Has you totally entranced. Her years of living in a loveless
marriage are soon to come to an end and you revel in her excitement
& wonder how she has managed so long.
These are
beautifully performed by Don Bridges & Felicity Steel.
Jack & Kate’s
monologues feel like a conversation that they were having with each
individual member of the audience.
At times I felt I
could have been sitting across the kitchen table, or watching the
football in the other armchair as they told their side of the tale.
As Pete, Kate’s
beloved companion and dog, Mick Lo Monaco bought the energy with him
the moment he hit the stage.
It can be a little
risky to have an actor play the part of an animal without it
becoming cheesy and a little tacky, but after the initial shock
wears off you once again get caught up in the story & Pete’s
knowledge of events, knowing that by the end of it he will help you
to solve the puzzle. Mick makes you forget with humour & at times a
little terror that you are being spoken to by a dog!
I’ll be honest. I
had preconceived ideas of this production & I was not expecting to
enjoy myself too much at the end of a very long week, & I have come
away disappointed.
Disappointed by
the fact that there were only a handful of audience members at this
particular performance. The show is fresh and original everything we
thespians complain about not seeing enough of. This show deserves an
audience.
I enjoyed watching
every moment of Three to a Room getting it just right.
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