The Dumb Waiter

old Pinter's The Dumb shares the bill with Days in the Loeb's repertory, and I find it to resist making a few between the plays. only two characters, is physically constricted Days takes place in a the Dumb Waiter in a Happy Days oozes philosophy, but it dull. Yet while of Pinter's play are no of profound than . The Dumb Waiter is entertaining.

is not to say that The Waiter is an "easy" play. does not bury his audience kling little nuggets of like Beckett's "Ah, earth, extinguisher!", and it is overlook or ignore much Dumb Waiter's depth. Loeb production I overall gentleman explain to his "The Dumb Waiter two hired killers who get from upstairs; Happy about boredom and the of life."

first full-length play, Birthday Party. Pinter dwelt of his pet themes, the being dragged from the one's familiar the outside world. Two apparently hired killers, a boarding house, one of its occupants, him away. In The Dumb Pinter focuses on these seemed so all-power-. The Birthday Party, and they too must face the such an alienation.

killers, Ben and Gus, basement room on from the Organization, for a nameless victim to their only contact with world is a dumb this presumably deuilding, which them messages -- food. This is Pinter's man's isolation of genuine communication the outside world. Only conversation can fill up while Ben and Gus wait. of the play. Ben message from upstairs dumb waiter, and pulls to kill Gus. has traded roles with be victim, has been the security of the the Outside.

modern plays depend on banter between the on sustain the interest -- and Pinter is writing such dialogue. a play depends solely burlesque interchanges, some boring -- and even like Waiting for to drag in the second the amusement of this to wane. All of however, contain element of suspense, sheer terror which attention even when actual action is at a standstill.

The Dumb Waiter is a very funny play, and Director Robert Chapman has chosen to emphasize its comic aspects--at the expense of just about everything else. Gus, played by K. Lype O'Dell, is a perfect buffoon throughout the play. Ben(David Meneghel) is more the prototype of the cool, calm professional killer, but he eventually is caught up in volatile arguments with Gus about absolutely trivial subjects. If The Dumb Waiter were only a funny play, if Pinter were capable of nothing more than writing funny dialogue, one could scarcely have found fault with O'dell's or Meneghel's performances, or with Chapman's direction.

Unfortunately, the Loeb production conveys little sense of an integral relationship between the wild arguments over the semantics of the phrase "to light a kettle" or a disputed penalty at a soccer game, and the actual dramatic situation of the play. These outbursts are the logical result of the tension which arises from the interminable wait for the victim's arrival. But the Loeb production does not make the audience conscious of a mounting tension.

In fact, the comic dialogues are so overplayed that one can almost forget that these two men are professional killers. Ben's and Gus's response to the messages from the dumb waiter is so funny that one forgets that these strange messages are baffling and terrifying. And without this sense of terror, Pinter loses much of his uniqueness among modern dramatists.

first full-length play, Birthday Party. Pinter dwelt of his pet themes, the being dragged from the one's familiar the outside world. Two apparently hired killers, a boarding house, one of its occupants, him away. In The Dumb Pinter focuses on these seemed so all-power-. The Birthday Party, and they too must face the such an alienation.

killers, Ben and Gus, basement room on from the Organization, for a nameless victim to their only contact with world is a dumb this presumably deuilding, which them messages -- food. This is Pinter's man's isolation of genuine communication the outside world. Only conversation can fill up while Ben and Gus wait. of the play. Ben message from upstairs dumb waiter, and pulls to kill Gus. has traded roles with be victim, has been the security of the the Outside.

modern plays depend on banter between the on sustain the interest -- and Pinter is writing such dialogue. a play depends solely burlesque interchanges, some boring -- and even like Waiting for to drag in the second the amusement of this to wane. All of however, contain element of suspense, sheer terror which attention even when actual action is at a standstill.

The Dumb Waiter is a very funny play, and Director Robert Chapman has chosen to emphasize its comic aspects--at the expense of just about everything else. Gus, played by K. Lype O'Dell, is a perfect buffoon throughout the play. Ben(David Meneghel) is more the prototype of the cool, calm professional killer, but he eventually is caught up in volatile arguments with Gus about absolutely trivial subjects. If The Dumb Waiter were only a funny play, if Pinter were capable of nothing more than writing funny dialogue, one could scarcely have found fault with O'dell's or Meneghel's performances, or with Chapman's direction.

Unfortunately, the Loeb production conveys little sense of an integral relationship between the wild arguments over the semantics of the phrase "to light a kettle" or a disputed penalty at a soccer game, and the actual dramatic situation of the play. These outbursts are the logical result of the tension which arises from the interminable wait for the victim's arrival. But the Loeb production does not make the audience conscious of a mounting tension.

In fact, the comic dialogues are so overplayed that one can almost forget that these two men are professional killers. Ben's and Gus's response to the messages from the dumb waiter is so funny that one forgets that these strange messages are baffling and terrifying. And without this sense of terror, Pinter loses much of his uniqueness among modern dramatists.

killers, Ben and Gus, basement room on from the Organization, for a nameless victim to their only contact with world is a dumb this presumably deuilding, which them messages -- food. This is Pinter's man's isolation of genuine communication the outside world. Only conversation can fill up while Ben and Gus wait. of the play. Ben message from upstairs dumb waiter, and pulls to kill Gus. has traded roles with be victim, has been the security of the the Outside.

modern plays depend on banter between the on sustain the interest -- and Pinter is writing such dialogue. a play depends solely burlesque interchanges, some boring -- and even like Waiting for to drag in the second the amusement of this to wane. All of however, contain element of suspense, sheer terror which attention even when actual action is at a standstill.

The Dumb Waiter is a very funny play, and Director Robert Chapman has chosen to emphasize its comic aspects--at the expense of just about everything else. Gus, played by K. Lype O'Dell, is a perfect buffoon throughout the play. Ben(David Meneghel) is more the prototype of the cool, calm professional killer, but he eventually is caught up in volatile arguments with Gus about absolutely trivial subjects. If The Dumb Waiter were only a funny play, if Pinter were capable of nothing more than writing funny dialogue, one could scarcely have found fault with O'dell's or Meneghel's performances, or with Chapman's direction.

Unfortunately, the Loeb production conveys little sense of an integral relationship between the wild arguments over the semantics of the phrase "to light a kettle" or a disputed penalty at a soccer game, and the actual dramatic situation of the play. These outbursts are the logical result of the tension which arises from the interminable wait for the victim's arrival. But the Loeb production does not make the audience conscious of a mounting tension.

In fact, the comic dialogues are so overplayed that one can almost forget that these two men are professional killers. Ben's and Gus's response to the messages from the dumb waiter is so funny that one forgets that these strange messages are baffling and terrifying. And without this sense of terror, Pinter loses much of his uniqueness among modern dramatists.

modern plays depend on banter between the on sustain the interest -- and Pinter is writing such dialogue. a play depends solely burlesque interchanges, some boring -- and even like Waiting for to drag in the second the amusement of this to wane. All of however, contain element of suspense, sheer terror which attention even when actual action is at a standstill.

The Dumb Waiter is a very funny play, and Director Robert Chapman has chosen to emphasize its comic aspects--at the expense of just about everything else. Gus, played by K. Lype O'Dell, is a perfect buffoon throughout the play. Ben(David Meneghel) is more the prototype of the cool, calm professional killer, but he eventually is caught up in volatile arguments with Gus about absolutely trivial subjects. If The Dumb Waiter were only a funny play, if Pinter were capable of nothing more than writing funny dialogue, one could scarcely have found fault with O'dell's or Meneghel's performances, or with Chapman's direction.

Unfortunately, the Loeb production conveys little sense of an integral relationship between the wild arguments over the semantics of the phrase "to light a kettle" or a disputed penalty at a soccer game, and the actual dramatic situation of the play. These outbursts are the logical result of the tension which arises from the interminable wait for the victim's arrival. But the Loeb production does not make the audience conscious of a mounting tension.

In fact, the comic dialogues are so overplayed that one can almost forget that these two men are professional killers. Ben's and Gus's response to the messages from the dumb waiter is so funny that one forgets that these strange messages are baffling and terrifying. And without this sense of terror, Pinter loses much of his uniqueness among modern dramatists.

The Dumb Waiter is a very funny play, and Director Robert Chapman has chosen to emphasize its comic aspects--at the expense of just about everything else. Gus, played by K. Lype O'Dell, is a perfect buffoon throughout the play. Ben(David Meneghel) is more the prototype of the cool, calm professional killer, but he eventually is caught up in volatile arguments with Gus about absolutely trivial subjects. If The Dumb Waiter were only a funny play, if Pinter were capable of nothing more than writing funny dialogue, one could scarcely have found fault with O'dell's or Meneghel's performances, or with Chapman's direction.

Unfortunately, the Loeb production conveys little sense of an integral relationship between the wild arguments over the semantics of the phrase "to light a kettle" or a disputed penalty at a soccer game, and the actual dramatic situation of the play. These outbursts are the logical result of the tension which arises from the interminable wait for the victim's arrival. But the Loeb production does not make the audience conscious of a mounting tension.

In fact, the comic dialogues are so overplayed that one can almost forget that these two men are professional killers. Ben's and Gus's response to the messages from the dumb waiter is so funny that one forgets that these strange messages are baffling and terrifying. And without this sense of terror, Pinter loses much of his uniqueness among modern dramatists.