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A SAMUEL FRENCH, LTD. TITLE
Short Play, Dark Comedy / 2m
Harold Pinter
Gus and Ben are on the job, waiting and listening. Into the waiting silence rattles the dumb waiter with extraordinary demands for dishes they cannot supply: but who is operating the dumb waiter in an empty house? Pinter‘s absurdist, menacing comedy of horrors never lets the tension let up as Gus and Ben await their fate, whatever that might be.
Image: 2020 Hampstead Theatre Production (Tristram Kenton)
In this absurdist, menacing comedy of horrors, Gus and Ben are two hitmen on the job, sitting and waiting for their target to arrive. Into this waiting silence rattles the dumb waiter with extraordinary demands for dishes they cannot supply: but who is operating the dumb waiter in an empty house? Who is their target? What will their fate be? Pinter’s characteristic blend of comedy with thrilling tension leaves the answers unclear until long after the play has finished.
Critically-acclaimed and beloved by generations of theatre-goers, such that actors ranging from Martin Freeman to David Thewlis and Jason Issacs have taken on one of the two main roles, The Dumb Waiter is a masterpiece in generating drama from the mere fact of existence. As Gus and Ben trade jokes, newspaper extracts and theories about who their mystery target could be, the tension only ratchets up as they await what the dumb waiter might bring.
The Dumb Waiter premiered in Frankfurt, Germany, at the Kleines Haus in 1959. It then made its English debut at the Hampstead Theatre Club in London on 21 January 1960, in a production starring Nicholas Selby and George Tovey.
BEN GUS
A basement room.
“Menacing and hilarious.” – The Guardian
“Pinter‘s most potent weapons, after all, are his silences.” – The New York Times
“Their antics in dealing with the unexpected twists of responding to requests for menu items infuse humor into a bleak, unsettling environment.” – DC Theater Arts
“That intensely human howl that sits at the intersection of laughing and crying.” – Exeunt
Harold Pinter (1930-2008) was born in London on October 10, 1930. He lived with Antonia Fraser from 1975 until his death on Christmas Eve 2008. (They were married in 1980).
After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and the Central School of Speech and Drama, he worke ...