By Dessa Bayrock (The Cascade) – Email
The Dumb Waiter
By Harold Pinter
Directed by Gabriel Kirkley
Running time 50 minutes
Showings: Sunday 7:30 p.m.
Warning: mature themes.
Memorable lines: “It’s enough to make you want to puke, innit?”
“I’m quite taken with the crockery.”
“You shouldn’t shout like that. It isn’t done.”
I’m going to start this with a recommendation: even if you see no other play at Directors’ Fest, see this one.
The stage opens on two beds and a table wrapped in plastic. Two men are waiting in a room, but why? It slowly comes out that they’re waiting to perform a “job,” as per mysterious instructions from an unseen boss. But the why of it remains – and provides a tension that slowly mounts as the play progresses.
The play is set in Britain, and the two actors (Liam Archer and Thomas Smith) do an admirable job of putting on British accents. Archer hits it especially well, with the repetition of “Cor!” with perfect British inflection.
Both actors nail their parts; Archer gains a maturity beyond his years in his role as “senior partner,” portraying an implacable patience of a father figure, and Smith pacing and aimlessly chatting as a restless young man. They are perfect foils of each other, and it’s impossible to catch either of them out of character. The play shines with their use of subtle emphasis and perfect inflection, highlighted by staging that leaves clear sight lines at all times to both sides of the audience.
The pressure of the situation escalates slowly; anger is an easy emotion to portray, but they nail the natural progression of tension.
The final lighting cue is the icing on the cake, as the lights slowly dim over the course of a minute or so. We reach the conclusion and as an audience feel as though we, too, are desperately trying to hang onto the light – both physical and spiritual.
