PINTER DOUBLE BILL

at the Mercury Theatre Colchester

08.11.10

for The Public Reviews

“The ending was so obvious, I thought ...” - “They're not normal people are they ?” - “The worst play I ever saw was called Waiting for Godot.” - “It's all about truth and trust.”

When it comes to Pinter, we're all critics. The Mercury's contrasting double bill, directed by Gari Jones who worked closely with the playwright for some years, gave us two early plays, the first, written for radio in 1958, was A Slight Ache. Not the most satisfying stage play, it begins in Ayckbourn territory, in a country garden with breakfast and the Daily Telegraph. But already the silent, sinister Match Seller is lurking at the gate, turning the drama dark with frustration, jealousy and fear of growing old.

Sara Perks gave the couple a lovely garden, study and scullery, and they were played with some feeling by Dee Evans, very touching when she tenderly takes the stranger's arm, and Andrew Neil, who reminded me more than once of Richardson in the much later No Man's Land. Graeme Brookes was the old, deaf, half-blind tramp who becomes Flora's surrogate child and lover.

In the second play, The Lover, Brookes was another figure now vanished from our streets, the milkman. I found this piece, which also deals with fear and jealousy, much more successful dramatically, with its double dealing and fantasy role plays. Another super set, more Venetian blinds, and two very impressive performances from Gina Isaac and Gus Gallagher. The dialogue, often wryly amusing, was played with wit and precision, and all the movements and gestures were telling.

Written after Pinter's first great hit with The Caretaker, it is nonetheless fifty years old, so playing it in such a strikingly contemporary setting is going to set up tensions: these are people who worry about sharpening shears, talk of cocoa and the wireless, and clearly live in a cottage in the country where the neighbours might gossip. And we see them in a swish flat, with designer wardrobes and furniture...

Like many of Pinter's plays, The Lover can be a comedy or a dark drama – Gari Jones's sparky production successfully managed elements of both.

this piece first appeared on The Public Reviews