Dark Laughs from ‘Pinter 7’

I write these first words at 10pm, having just made it back from Pinter 7. It seems that I’d have to at least make a start on my article now, not for issues of time but to capture feeling while it is still strong, for what is the point of art if not to inspire feeling?

I’ve left with a sense of satisfaction and excitement. The current instalment of the Pinter at the Pinter series is engaging and cleverly humorous, complete with an all-star cast and unique narratives. Without giving too much away, the conclusions of both short plays within this performance - A Slight Ache and The Dumb Waiter - were powerful and thought-provoking.

The performance begins with A Slight Ache, a radio play focused on a respectable couple, Flora (Gemma Whelan) and Edward (John Heffernan) and their different, emotional reactions to the appearance of a strange match-seller. As a radio play, the stage is set in a recording studio, but the audience is rapidly transported to the home of Edward and Flora, their flowering garden and their domestic lives. The play sits somewhere between the studio and this house, with Whelan and Heffernan dipping between being Edward and Flora and simply reciting lines in the studio. The studio is a powerful tool throughout the story, with props being actively used. The use of sound props- like gravel for the garden path- is particularly immersive and, through contrasting tones and timely entrances, add a further comic element to that of the characters themselves.

Flora reacts with kindness towards the match-seller and this is in complete contrast to the paranoid panic of Edward, who goes as far as to invite him into confrontation. This fear comes with ‘a slight ache’ in Edward’s eyes, a recurring issue in the play and source of constant tension.

Upon the disturbing end of this first performance, the stage quite literally switches to a completely new setting, a bare, grey room. Within this place are two men, Gus (Martin Freeman) and Ben (Danny Dyer). Through various hints, we eventually learn that these two men are hired killers, waiting for a call that their target has arrived in the building.

The scenario quickly becomes comical when a dumb waiter begins to send down orders for various delicacies Gus and Ben are unsurprisingly, unable to source. This play, The Dumb Waiter, is in contrast to the first when it comes to dramatic technique: light and sound are used sparingly and there is a heavy reliance on the conversations between Gus and Ben. This pays off beautifully, delivering a captivating performance and building a true fondness for the pair in a very short time. Where the two plays are similar is in their dissent into tension and chaos; as the hour grows later, stress boils over but still, throughout, the comedy is upheld; honestly, hearing Freeman angrily shout ‘scampi!’ in the middle of an argument is a highlight of theatre itself.

The contrast between the humour and dark themes of Pinter 7 is masterfully delivered by talented actors and a real hit with audiences. The theatre echoed with the gasps of awed patrons as the curtain fell and that itself should speak volumes of the skill of both Jamie Lloyd’s direction of the shows and, of course, Harold Pinter himself.

-5 stars