With the library-based Shelf Life being the latest offering from National Theatre Wales, this is certainly a month where silence and powerful pauses take over and, as every passionate theatre-goer knows, no playwright has ever given us the staged hiatus with quite so much gusto as Harold Pinter.
In keeping with this, London Classic Theatre are bringing back their successful take on the fifty-year-old play that launched Pinter as a respected playwright.
The story, centred around the relationship between two brothers and the homeless man the eldest brings to live in their house, is a complex exploration of three men’s identities, their possessions and their sanity. In this production starring Nicholas Gasson as the tramp, Richard Stemp as the generous older brother and Benjamin Warren as the cold-hearted younger sibling, we see the men battle to form a hierarchy of inclusion.
With a fascinating lingering on textual stage directions, Pinter’s concepts and ideas are notoriously hard to direct and perform, yet London Classic Theatre have really captured key elements through tension-fueled setting and unnerving characters. Remaining loyal to The Caretaker‘s Theatre of the Absurd classification, the theatre group have truly captured the menacing aspects of the text as they try to negotiate meaning.
Luckily for us, the company are embarking on a second tour that will be ripened by knowledge. ‘It will be a very different experience’ promises Michael Cabot, the Artistic Director, ‘the second time around is always an opportunity for a different level of work’. The company have certainly embarked on a learning process and are clearly more surefooted about what they are doing. And, after such success and critical acclaim last time around, we are certainly in for a treat.
With a complex analysis of how we present ourselves to others, by a company with great confidence, skill and determination, it’s time to pause and reflect on this timeless work.
The Caretaker will be at Newtown Theatr Hafren on Fri 16 April and Milford Haven Torch Theatre on Sat 17 April.