The Dumb Waiter

Infobox Play
name = The Dumb Waiter


image_size =
caption =
writer = Harold Pinter
chorus =
characters = Ben
Gus
mute =
setting = A basement room
date of premiere = January 21, 1960
place = Hampstead Theatre Club
country of Origin = UK
original language = English
series =
subject =
genre = Comedy-drama
web = http://www.haroldpinter.org/plays/title_dumbwaiter.shtml
playbill_event =
ibdb_id =

"The Dumb Waiter" is a one-act play by 2005 Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter written in 1957; it premièred at the Hampstead Theatre Club, on January 21, 1960.Cite web|url=http://www.haroldpinter.org/plays/title_dumbwaiter.shtml|title=The Dumb Waiter|work=HaroldPinter.org|publisher="haroldpinter.org"|accessdate=2008-06-27] The critically-acclaimed 50th-anniversary stage revival directed by Harry Burton at Trafalgar Studios, London, from February 2 to March 24, 2007, starred Lee Evans as Gus and Jason Isaacs as Ben.cite news|author=Sonia Friedman Productions|title=Dumb Waiter Limited Run|url=http://www.soniafriedman.com/news_press_releases/dumb_waiter_limited_run|work=Sonia Friedman Productions press release|date=2007-01-03|accessdate=2008-06-27|quote=Strictly limited run: Lee Evans and Jason Isaacs to star in major revival of Harold Pinter's The Dumb Waiter directed by Harry Burton ... To coincide with the play's 50th anniversary....] cite news|author=John Nathan|title=Lee Evans and Jason Isaacs to Star in Pinter’s "The Dumb Waiter" in London|url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/104626.html|work=Playbill Online|publisher="playbill.com"|date=2007-01-04|accessdate=2008-06-28] cite news|author=Jasper Rees|title='There is a streak of cruelty in me': Actor Jason Isaacs Says Life Prepared Him to Become a Specialist in Unattractive Characters|work=The Daily Telegraph, Review|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/01/27/baisaacs127.xml|date=2007-01-27|accessdate=2008-06-27|quote=The more cheery and pliant of the two [Gus] is played by Lee Evans, the more menacing [Ben] by Isaacs. Characteristically. 'Far from what you would think,' [Isaacs] says, 'Lee is the one who went to art school and is familiar with Beckett and Pinter. I wasn't going to do this until I read it. It is crackingly funny. I realised how much of a debt Tarantino owes. The Pinter scholars can go off and discuss whatever they like in dusty rooms, but Lee and I and Harry Burton, the director, are trying to come up with something really engaging and exciting. It's never been more relevant. The whole play exists on this undercurrent of fear and paranoia. It's a very scary time to live in the world, and these two guys are in a room scared and working out what to do about it.' ] cite news|author=Caroline Ansdell|title=Review Round-up: Critics Find Waiter Not So Dumb|url=http://www.whatsonstage.com/index.php?pg=207&story=E8821171037125|publisher=WhatsOnStage.com|date=2007-02-09|accessdate=2008-06-27|quote=Overnight critics delighted in the menace and suspense built up by the play and the strong performances of the actors – particularly Evans – who, they said, bought out plenty of comedy in Burton’s slick production. However some felt that despite the production’s positives, at just over an hour it did not constitute value for money, and several critics said it should have been paired with another piece, or some of Pinter’s sketches to give a full evening’s entertainment. [Includes excerpts from several reviews, including some cited below and in Jason Isaacs#Career.] ] cite news|author=Associated Press|title=Revival of 'The Dumb Waiter' Shows Harold Pinter's Comic Side|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/09/arts/EU-A-E-STG-Britain-The-Dumb-Waiter.php|work=International Herald Tribune|date=2007-02-09|accessdate=2008-06-27]

Plot summary

Two hit-men, Ben and Gus are waiting in a basement room for their assignment. Ben is the senior member of the team and is reading a newspaper when the action begins. Gus is the junior member and is tying his shoes as the play opens. Gus asks many questions of Ben as he gets ready for their job and tries to make tea, including questions about their job (Gus seems to be questioning the concept of being a hit-man). They argue over the semantics of "light the kettle" and "put the kettle on". Ben continues reading his paper most of the time, and reads excerpts of it to Gus sometimes, it seems, to change the topic of conversation. Ben gets increasingly more animated in his newspaper story-telling, and Gus's questions become more and more pointed, and at points nearly nonsensical. As the tension rises the physicality of the two players increases accordingly.

In the back of the room is a dumbwaiter, which delivers occasional food orders. This is mysterious and both characters seem to be puzzled as to why these orders keep coming. At one point they send up some snack food that Gus had brought along. As these orders come in, the tension builds to the point where they even come to blows. Ben has to explain to the people above via the dumbwaiter's "speaking tube" that there is no food. This whole sequence is rather odd because the basement is clearly not outfitted for fulfillment of the orders. Some feel that this sequence is a cue for Ben that something odd is going to happen that night and the speaking tube is going to be the means of communication.

Gus leaves the room to get a drink of water in the bathroom, and the dumbwaiter's speaking tube whistles (a sign that there is a person on the other end who wishes to communicate). Ben listens carefully -- we gather from his replies that their victim has arrived and is on his way to the room. Ben shouts for Gus, who is still out of the room. The door that the target is supposed to enter from flies open, Ben rounds on it with his gun, and Gus enters, stripped of his jacket, waistcoat, tie and gun. There is a long silence as the two stare at each other before the curtain comes down (the implication is that Gus is the person that Ben has been employed to kill).

Most notable stage productions

London première

As part of a double bill with Pinter's first play, "The Room", "The Dumb Waiter" was first produced at the Hampstead Theatre Club, in the London Borough of Camden, on January 21, 1960. Directed by James Roose-Evans and designed by Michael Young, this production featured the following cast:
*Ben - Nicholas Selby
*Gus - George ToveyIt transferred to the Royal Court Theatre, opening on March 8, 1960.

Oxford Playhouse revival

*2004 – "The Dumb Waiter" and Other Pieces by Harold Pinter, directed by Douglas Hodge (in his directorial debut) and starring Toby Jones as Gus and Jason Watkins as Ben, at The Oxford Playhouse, in Oxford, from February 17 to February 28, 2004.Cite news|author=Victoria Roddam|title=Review: The Dumb Waiter: The Dumb Waiter & Other Pieces by Harold Pinter (The Oxford Playhouse)|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/oxford/stage/2004/02/dumb_waiter_review.shtml|work=BBC News, Oxford|publisher="bbc.co.uk"|date=February 2004|accessdate=2008-06-28] cite news|author=Paul Taylor|title=Going Out: Theatre: Theatre Reviews: The Dumb Waiter and other pieces|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20040306/ai_n12769288|work=The Independent|publisher="FindArticles.com"|date=2004-03-06|accessdate=2008-06-28]

50th-anniversary revival

*2007 – "The Dumb Waiter", directed by Harry Burton and starring Lee Evans as Gus and Jason Isaacs as Ben, at the Trafalgar Studios, in London, from February 2 to March 24, 2007.cite news|author=Michael Billington|title=The Dumb Waiter, Trafalgar Studios, London|url=http://arts.guardian.co.uk/theatre/drama/reviews/story/0,,2009375,00.html|work=The Guardian|publisher="guardian.co.uk"|date=2007-02-09|accessdate=2008-06-27] cite news|author=Charles Spencer|title=Short, Sharp Lesson from Pinter Master|url= http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/02/09/btdumb09.xml|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=2007-02-09|accessdate=2008-06-27] cite news|author=Rhoda Koenig|title=The Dumb Waiter, Trafalgar Studios, London|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre/reviews/the-dumb-waiter-trafalgar-studios-london--none-onestar-twostar-fourstar-fivestar-436003.html|work=The Independent|date=2007-02-12|accessdate=2008-06-27] cite news|author=Benedict Nightingale|title=The Dumb Waiter, Trafalgar Studios|url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/theatre/article1357183.ece|work=The Times|date=2007-02-09|accessdate=2008-06-27]

Television films

* 1986 – Kenneth Ives directed a made-for-TV feature film version of "The Dumb Waiter", starring Kenneth Cranham and Colin Blakely, first broadcast by the BBC in July 1986.IMDb title|title=The Dumb Waiter|id=1226758. Accessed June 27, 2008.]
* 1987 – Robert Altman directed a made-for-TV feature film version of "The Dumb Waiter", starring John Travolta and Tom Conti, filmed in Canada and first televised in the United States on WABC-TV on May 12, 1987, as part of Altman's two-part series entitled "Basements"; part one is Pinter's first play "The Room".IMDB title|title=Basements (1987) (TV)|id=092620. One of two-part series, including a film of Pinter's first play, "The Room". Accessed June 27, 2008. [In the United States, this 60-min. film was televised on ABC-TV with Pinter's original title, "The Dumb Waiter", as the second of two parts of Altman's two-film series entitled "Basements".] ] Cite web|author=Andrea LeVasseur|url=http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/14957/The-Dumb-Waiter/overview|title=Review Summary and Movie Details: The Dumb Waiter|work=The New York Times|publisher="movies.nytimes.com"|accessdate=2008-06-27 [Rpt. from "Allmovie".] ] Cite web|author=Andrea LeVasseur|url=http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:14957|title=Plot Synopsis: The Dumb Waiter|work=Allmovie|publisher="All Media Guide": "allmovie.com"|accessdate=2008-06-27]

Notes

elected bibliography

External links

*" [http://www.theambassadors.com/trafalgarstudios/sp_p3494.html The Dumb Waiter] ", by Harold Pinter, at Trafalgar Studios. From February 2, 2007. Accessed June 27, 2008.
* [http://web.mac.com/mattybee/www.mataharifilms.com/Welcome_Stop_Press.html "Welcome: Stop Press"] – Official site of Matahari Films, featuring production photographs and excerpts from Michael Billington's hyperlinked "Guardian.co.uk" review of "actor/director Matthew (a.k.a. Harry) Burton"'s Trafalgar Studios production of "The Dumb Waiter". Accessed June 27, 2008.