The Lover & The Dumb Waiter
Harold Pinter has been a driving force in British theater for
over half a century. Now knighted, he is considered by
scholars to be one of the leading playwrights in the English-speaking
world.
Born in a poor section of London in 1930, he wrote "The Dumb
Waiter" in 1957, though not produced until 1960. An
enigmatic drama that probes the dark underbelly of British bourgeois
society, it became the format for all of his plays to follow.
In fact, Pinter's signature style is so well recognized it has
become a dramatic term. Today "Pinter-esque" means any drama written in short, terse, pithy sentences and long disturbing pauses--one that evokes menace, mayhem, and unspeakable possibilities.
His play "The Lover" was produced in 1962, and once again Pinter
explores the double life of British respectability. On the surface,
the husband and wife protagonists are pillars of respectability; but
psychological warfare goes on underneath their good breeding.
Now the gutsy Garage Theatre has tackled both of these theatrical
icons with two casts that alternate each week. Considering the
difficulty of the material (one that requires tight-fisted,
restrained direction and well-seasoned actors), we give them kudos
for their effort and the courage of their conviction. It is certainly a
brave move for such a young troupe.
The following review refers to the opening night performance
which featured Jessica Variz and Cliff E. Threadgold.
Both"The Lover" and "The Dumb Waiter" remain edgy and
obscure works
built on dialogue that escalates from foreboding premises to tragic endings.
But there, resemblance to the original scripts end.
"The Lover," the more successful of the two, explores the secret
anguish of a young upper-class couple who relieve the tedium of their
marriage by having fantasy affairs. She spends each afternoon with a
secret lover who comes to the house at three; he gets his kicks from
a prostitute he picks up in the street.
At six o'clock each night, they openly discuss their activities
in a civilized manner over cocktails. When "the lover" turns out
to be the husband (dressed in different clothes and behaving in a
different manner), it becomes obvious that they're playing sexual
fantasy games.
What fun; he is her lover, she is his whore. Then little by
little, the games get out of hand and the husband becomes brutal.
The writing is on the wall, the perfect marriage is coming to an end.
Guided by the over-the-top direction of Amy-Louise Sebelius, the
tasteful, black/white set of the play as originally written has been
changed to a bright-lime-green apartment full of kitschy art objects.
In addition, the scenes are interspersed with popular surf music and
wailing Hawaiian guitars that blast through the theater.
It's the director's prerogative to call the shots, of course (even
Shakespeare has been updated in modern dress); but when changes are
so drastic they interfere with the play's intentions it causes
confusion in the audience.
Variz and Threadgold give their all in their performances,
long silences included; but Threadgold's bright orange Mohawk
hair-cut is extremely distracting. It defuses the mounting menace
that this one-act is meant to convey.
How can a serious businessman in an executive position be
credible if he has a six-inch Mohawk jutting out from his bald head?
It just doesn't jibe with his suit and tie. Although this work
wasn't written as a farce, we are given such mixed signals it's hard
not to laugh.
In regard to Pinter's world-famous "The Dumb Waiter": If people
are not familiar with it ahead of time, they may not understand what
is happening. In essence, two hit-men (Variz and Threadgold again)
are waiting in some rank basement space beneath a restaurant for
instructions about their next assignment.
The place is a mess, there is no food, the men are cold and
hungry, and the creaky dumb-waiter keeps descending with requests for
things they don't have. Time crawls. After becoming exasperated to
the point of anger, the lead killer (Variz) gets a note from the
dumb-waiter telling him who the next victim will be. He is visibly
upset but agrees to do as he is told. Then comes what should be a
shocking ending.
If you're a Pinter fan, give it a try. For the first two
Thursday performances The Garage is offering two tickets for the price
of one. I plan to go back myself to see how Cast B (Kim Bush and
Slade Lewis) handle this extremely difficult material.
Where: The Garage Theatre, 251 E. 7th Street, Long Beach
When: Thurs.-Saturday, 8 pm
Admission: Gen, $15; students/seniors, $12
Reservations: (866) 811-4111, www.thegaragetheatre.org at box office