Ben Prendergast

Category: Review

  • The Age – Grand Questions Swirl in this acting masterclass (Review) ★★★★

    Link to Article This production is an acting masterclass…the ensemble of four performs with impressive clarity and precision, distinguishing multiple characters He then called on the crowd to ‘stand on the shoulders of our great artists past, on the shoulders of our great women, our inspiring Indigenous, our brilliant filmmakers and technicians, and create works…

  • Daily Review – Dead Centre / Sea Wall (Review) ★★★★

    Link to ArticleBoth actors seemed to me to be faultless. As Stephens’s writing requires, Prendergast is more nakedly emotional, yet never self-indulgent. It is the kind of acting where the technique is invisible and absolutely at the service of the characters it summons up. Afterwards it occurs to you the risk that has been taken: it is…

  • Stage Whispers – Sea Wall (Review) ★★★★★

    Link to ArticleThis is very special theatre…a production of sheer perfection. I have rarely seen an audience so still, so moved by a performance which is essentially low key and without Mr Prendergast’s usual charisma. I myself couldn’t stop the mascara from running….fortunately the male audience members with tears in their eyes were not wearing mascara.…

  • The Sydney Morning Herald – Dead Centre / Sea Wall (Review) ★★★★

    Link to Article Alex (Ben Prendergast), softly spoken and, like his estranged wife, stoic to a fault, he nonetheless churns with barely concealed rage and anguish. It’s a brilliantly sustained piece of domestic horror. 

  • Stage Whispers – The Flick (Review) ★★★★★

    Link to Article Prendergast is such a charismatic actor that there are moments when you see him hunch the shoulders a little more, bow the head, work at hiding the charisma; in Act 2 he is simply superb, generously sublimating his power as an actor and handing the stage to Dion Mills (always powerful in his…

  • The Saturday Paper – The Flick (Review) ★★★★★

    Link to Article Nadia Tass directs a splendid cast with a glowing, understated brilliance that has no false steps. Sam is a great portrait of a man with a heart and mind as good as the next one. The Flick shows why the theatre is its own magic lantern, and it shows how it can…

  • Australian Book Review – The Flick (Review) ★★★★

    Link to Article There is an understated rivalry between Sam and Avery from the beginning and Prendergast excels as the bluff, older man who longs to assert his authority and make something of his life.

  • The Age Year in Review – The Flick ★★★★★

    Link to Article My favourite Red Stitch offering was Nadia Tass’s production of Annie Baker’s The Flick, which received pitch-perfect performances in the musty ambience of an underground theaterette

  • The Sydney Morning Herald – The Flick (Review) ★★★★★

    Link to Article All three actors generate a riveting and precise ensemble performance which resists easy comedy to create a deep and satisfying humour – one strongly rooted in character – as dappled with darkness and betrayal as it is streaked with hilarity and moments of profound recognition. 

  • ArtsHub – The Flick (Review) ★★★★☆

    Link to Article The Flick very much represents the epitome of theatre. The cast are brilliant in their roles, subtly displaying these aching affections with utmost sincerity. Prendergast is a delight to watch, and his desperate attempts to gain Rose’s attention is both heartbreaking and endearing.