The Caretaker and the Dumb Waiter (Pinter, Harold)

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  These two early plays from Pinter bristle with all the mystery, honest contradiction, humor and despair of human life. In "The Caretaker", an elderly bum is allowed to live in a house owned by two brothers, whose shifting natures, at times benevolent and at others defensive and antagonizing, force the bum's inner fears and questions into the light. In "The Dumb Waiter", two hired killers wait in a basement room for their target to arrive. After a while the dumb waiter m... (show more)

  These two early plays from Pinter bristle with all the mystery, honest contradiction, humor and despair of human life. In "The Caretaker", an elderly bum is allowed to live in a house owned by two brothers, whose shifting natures, at times benevolent and at others defensive and antagonizing, force the bum's inner fears and questions into the light. In "The Dumb Waiter", two hired killers wait in a basement room for their target to arrive. After a while the dumb waiter mysteriously starts up, with strange and hilarious results. (show less)

   

   

  by Peter Nelson-King on Jul 29, 2008 at 09:57PM

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  The Dumb Waiter is absolute craziness, with a neat twist at the end, while The Caretaker shows how giving an inch and taking a mile reaches a logical conclusion.

   

   

  by Dave Wynn on Apr 16, 2008 at 08:58AM

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