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- The Dumb Waiter Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter: The Dumb Waiter Cristina González Angós 2014/15
Was born…
Harold Pinter was born in London in 1930 and died in 2008. Pinter grew up in a solid working-class environment, the only child of a Jewish tailor. His extended families played an important role in his upbringing.
Some of the members of his mother's family engaged in criminal activities and one of his uncles was a bare-knuckle boxer, while his father's relatives were interested in music, art and literature. These opposing points of view would be an essential feature of his plays, especially in his later works. Influences
The
effects of Pinter's evacuation as a child during the Second World War were also to be of
considerable relevance to his artistic development.
The recurrent feelings of entrapment and claustrophobia which are displayed by the protagonists of many of his plays are likely to stem from this traumatic separation from his parents.
The bombing of his neighbourhood, the East of London, also made a huge impact on Pinter, no doubt fostering the idea that surfaces in his texts that violence is not only inevitable, but always a threat. It is not clear to what extent the Holocaust and its aftermath affected the playwright nor how important Holocaust in
his Jewishness was to his work. Many of his plays are about motiveless persecution which is no doubt a
Pinte's plays??? reaction to this experience as a youth, however Pinter tends to play down the repercussion of his ethnicity, favouring a more universal interpretation of his work.
After a year at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he chose to drop out of school and dedicate his time to reading, writing and acting.
When he was drafted, he registered as a conscientious objector and was imprisoned for a short period of time. His life
At age twenty-six he met the actress Vivien Merchant and they were married. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005 and is considered one of the most original and challenging of the dramatists who emerged towards the end of the 1950's. He was the author of more than thirty plays, twenty-one screen plays, and director of twenty-seven theatre productions.
In his later artistic and vital period, Pinter became a political activist, campaigning against the War in Iraq and taking almost every opportunity to make pronouncements on current affairs, especially denouncing U.S. politics. The Dumb Waiter Pinter's writing career essentially began with the performance of The Room in 1957. This same year, The His influence…
Dumb Waiter and The Birthday Party were written. All three of these reveal the immense impact that Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot (1952) had on the young playwright, which is especially poingnant in his representation of the relationship between Gus and Ben in The Dumb Waiter.
Pay careful attention to…
The way in which the characters are constructed through language and the absence of it. The possible sub-texts that can be extracted. The way in which the writer creates ambiguity in order to force his readers to ultimately reach their own conclusions.
Pinter's dialogue - or lack of it - echoes Beckett's strategic use of repetition and pauses. The true nature of their characters emerges just as much from what they do not say as from what they do.
Dialogue /Language
Silences are ominous and threatening, and often foreshadow a violent denouement. The utilisation of language is in fact so unique that the word 'Pinteresque' has been coined to refer to the dialogues which camouflage a menacing situation, a world he creates full of silence and repressed violence. For this reason, his plays have often been called 'Comedies of Menace'.
The
frequent use of pauses within his dialogues has come to be considered such an outstanding
characteristic of his work that at times it has been the subject of parody and mockery.
Another
characteristic is the exploitation of difference in the awareness of characters upon the
stage. Ben and Gus are hired killers, waiting for Wilson to give them instructions regarding their next 'job'. The element of uncertainty is introduced from the very beginning of the story. We ask ourselves who they are, where they are and what they are doing there. Teh two protagonists, Ben and Gus, engage in a converstation which is defined through a series of pauses and repetitions that are in turn aided by seemingly harmless and insignificant props. It becomes immediately evident that of the two men Gus is the Plot
most submissive and insecure. Ben, on the other hand, emits an aura of intimidation and violence, using silence as a means of domination. In some parts of the play, to Gus's worried questioning, Ben responds either by referring to sordid news items or with repressed anger and emotional vacuity. When the dumb waiter is introduced, the dialogue shifts away from the two men who are now confronted with and have to communicate with the unknown person at the end of the shaft.
Categorization
Pinter's plays have been categorised by some critics as 'Theatre of non-communication'.
They are in Birmingham and apparently, it is Friday because Gus wants to watch the Birmingham soccer team tomorrow (Saturday)
Ben reports to Gus some newspapers articles: 1. a newspaper article which reports on an elderly man who tried to cross a busy street by crawling under the truck, which then ran over him. 2. an article about a child who kills a cat. Details of the play…
They find a box on a dumb waiter. Then, they find a intercom tube. The play is set in the basement of a café and Wilsom may be who own it. There is a picture on the wall of cricket players entitled 'The First Eleven' - Neither he nor Ben knows that the 'first eleven' refers to a school's top cricket players.
There is numerous similarities and allusions to Beckett's Waiting for Godot . Themes: The silence and violence of language; anxiety over social class. Motifs: Repetition. Symbols: The dumb waiter - serves a a symbol for the broken, one-sided communication between Gus and Ben. They do not speak with, but to each other. Gus - a submissive junior hit man who is constantly bossed around by Ben. Ben - the senior hit man. He runs their outfit, but pays strict attention to the demands of Wilson, their Characters
boss. Wilson - a mysterious figure, the boss of Gus an Ben. He never shows up but he messages from the dumb waiter may be from him.
“The Theatre of the Absurd”, a term coined by the critic Martin Esslin to describe the work of a number of playwrights, mostly written between 1950s and 1960s. This type of theatre was influenced by several The Theatre of factors among which we can point out the traumatic experience of the horrors of the Second World War the Absurd
and the reaction to the disappearance of the religious dimension from contemporary life. But the Theatre of the Absurd is also a rebellion against conventional theatre, that is, it breaks the conventions of classic drama. That’s why some authors have labeled it “New Theatre” or “Anti-Theatre”. In his book The Theatre of the Absurd , written in 1972, Martin Esslin revises the main characteristics of the Theatre of the Absurd pointing out, as the most outstanding features, to
the lack of action or plot its purposelessness the absurd or comic situation at the end of the play Main the presentation of a world which cannot be logically explained. characteristics Objects are much more important than language in absurd theatre.
of the Theatre of the Absurd
He also stresses the fact that the characters are very little described or not describe at all, and that the conversation between them lacks meaning and sense, that is, there is a distrust of language as a means of communication. Pinter’s dialogues camouflage a menacing situation full of repressed violence and this is the reason why his plays have been also called “Comedies of Menace”.
Was born…
Harold Pinter was born in London in 1930 and died in 2008. Pinter grew up in a solid working-class environment, the only child of a Jewish tailor. His extended families played an important role in his upbringing.
Some of the members of his mother's family engaged in criminal activities and one of his uncles was a bare-knuckle boxer, while his father's relatives were interested in music, art and literature. These opposing points of view would be an essential feature of his plays, especially in his later works. Influences
The
effects of Pinter's evacuation as a child during the Second World War were also to be of
considerable relevance to his artistic development.
The recurrent feelings of entrapment and claustrophobia which are displayed by the protagonists of many of his plays are likely to stem from this traumatic separation from his parents.
The bombing of his neighbourhood, the East of London, also made a huge impact on Pinter, no doubt fostering the idea that surfaces in his texts that violence is not only inevitable, but always a threat. It is not clear to what extent the Holocaust and its aftermath affected the playwright nor how important Holocaust in
his Jewishness was to his work. Many of his plays are about motiveless persecution which is no doubt a
Pinte's plays??? reaction to this experience as a youth, however Pinter tends to play down the repercussion of his ethnicity, favouring a more universal interpretation of his work.
After a year at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he chose to drop out of school and dedicate his time to reading, writing and acting.
When he was drafted, he registered as a conscientious objector and was imprisoned for a short period of time. His life
At age twenty-six he met the actress Vivien Merchant and they were married. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005 and is considered one of the most original and challenging of the dramatists who emerged towards the end of the 1950's. He was the author of more than thirty plays, twenty-one screen plays, and director of twenty-seven theatre productions.
In his later artistic and vital period, Pinter became a political activist, campaigning against the War in Iraq and taking almost every opportunity to make pronouncements on current affairs, especially denouncing U.S. politics. The Dumb Waiter Pinter's writing career essentially began with the performance of The Room in 1957. This same year, The His influence…
Dumb Waiter and The Birthday Party were written. All three of these reveal the immense impact that Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot (1952) had on the young playwright, which is especially poingnant in his representation of the relationship between Gus and Ben in The Dumb Waiter.
Pay careful attention to…
The way in which the characters are constructed through language and the absence of it. The possible sub-texts that can be extracted. The way in which the writer creates ambiguity in order to force his readers to ultimately reach their own conclusions.
Pinter's dialogue - or lack of it - echoes Beckett's strategic use of repetition and pauses. The true nature of their characters emerges just as much from what they do not say as from what they do.
Dialogue /Language
Silences are ominous and threatening, and often foreshadow a violent denouement. The utilisation of language is in fact so unique that the word 'Pinteresque' has been coined to refer to the dialogues which camouflage a menacing situation, a world he creates full of silence and repressed violence. For this reason, his plays have often been called 'Comedies of Menace'.
The
frequent use of pauses within his dialogues has come to be considered such an outstanding
characteristic of his work that at times it has been the subject of parody and mockery.
Another
characteristic is the exploitation of difference in the awareness of characters upon the
stage. Ben and Gus are hired killers, waiting for Wilson to give them instructions regarding their next 'job'. The element of uncertainty is introduced from the very beginning of the story. We ask ourselves who they are, where they are and what they are doing there. Teh two protagonists, Ben and Gus, engage in a converstation which is defined through a series of pauses and repetitions that are in turn aided by seemingly harmless and insignificant props. It becomes immediately evident that of the two men Gus is the Plot
most submissive and insecure. Ben, on the other hand, emits an aura of intimidation and violence, using silence as a means of domination. In some parts of the play, to Gus's worried questioning, Ben responds either by referring to sordid news items or with repressed anger and emotional vacuity. When the dumb waiter is introduced, the dialogue shifts away from the two men who are now confronted with and have to communicate with the unknown person at the end of the shaft.
Categorization
Pinter's plays have been categorised by some critics as 'Theatre of non-communication'.
They are in Birmingham and apparently, it is Friday because Gus wants to watch the Birmingham soccer team tomorrow (Saturday)
Ben reports to Gus some newspapers articles: 1. a newspaper article which reports on an elderly man who tried to cross a busy street by crawling under the truck, which then ran over him. 2. an article about a child who kills a cat. Details of the play…
They find a box on a dumb waiter. Then, they find a intercom tube. The play is set in the basement of a café and Wilsom may be who own it. There is a picture on the wall of cricket players entitled 'The First Eleven' - Neither he nor Ben knows that the 'first eleven' refers to a school's top cricket players.
There is numerous similarities and allusions to Beckett's Waiting for Godot . Themes: The silence and violence of language; anxiety over social class. Motifs: Repetition. Symbols: The dumb waiter - serves a a symbol for the broken, one-sided communication between Gus and Ben. They do not speak with, but to each other. Gus - a submissive junior hit man who is constantly bossed around by Ben. Ben - the senior hit man. He runs their outfit, but pays strict attention to the demands of Wilson, their Characters
boss. Wilson - a mysterious figure, the boss of Gus an Ben. He never shows up but he messages from the dumb waiter may be from him.
“The Theatre of the Absurd”, a term coined by the critic Martin Esslin to describe the work of a number of playwrights, mostly written between 1950s and 1960s. This type of theatre was influenced by several The Theatre of factors among which we can point out the traumatic experience of the horrors of the Second World War the Absurd
and the reaction to the disappearance of the religious dimension from contemporary life. But the Theatre of the Absurd is also a rebellion against conventional theatre, that is, it breaks the conventions of classic drama. That’s why some authors have labeled it “New Theatre” or “Anti-Theatre”. In his book The Theatre of the Absurd , written in 1972, Martin Esslin revises the main characteristics of the Theatre of the Absurd pointing out, as the most outstanding features, to
the lack of action or plot its purposelessness the absurd or comic situation at the end of the play Main the presentation of a world which cannot be logically explained. characteristics Objects are much more important than language in absurd theatre.
of the Theatre of the Absurd
He also stresses the fact that the characters are very little described or not describe at all, and that the conversation between them lacks meaning and sense, that is, there is a distrust of language as a means of communication. Pinter’s dialogues camouflage a menacing situation full of repressed violence and this is the reason why his plays have been also called “Comedies of Menace”.
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- The Dumb Waiter was first performed at Hampstead Theatre Club, London, in January 1960, and transferred to the Royal Court Theatre, London, in March of the same year.
- The Dumb Waiter is Pinter’s second play. A one act play heavily influenced by Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, it revolves around two would-be assassins waiting to learn what their next assignment will be. These men, Ben and Gus, are polar opposites: Ben takes orders as they come without question, while Gus nervously awaits new assignments.
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Performances for the Harold Pinter Black Box are set for 7:30 p.m. 31 through Feb. Tickets cost $5 each. To order online, visit at www.stagecoachers.com. Tickets also.
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Jacket description.back: In all of Pinter's plays, seemingly ordinary events become charged with profound, if elusive, meaning, haunting pathos, and wild comedy. In The Caretaker, a tramp finds lodging in the derelict house of two brothers; in The Dumbwaiter, a pair of gunmen wait for the kill in a decayed lodging house. Harold Pinter gradually exposes the inner strains an...more
Published January 18th 1994 by Grove Press (first published January 18th 1960)
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Mar 20, 2013Lit Bug rated it it was amazing
I’d read The Caretaker more than three years ago, and though I had loved it, I kept The Dumb Waiter for another time, for some stupid reason. Finally I took it up today, and wondered why I dithered so long. I adore modern drama, and Pinter is one of my favorite playwrights.
For quite some time, Pinter had been considered a different kind of absurdist dramatist. Less dark than Beckett, but just as effective. And perhaps much more lucid. While Beckett alludes to the bleakness and meaninglessness of...more
For quite some time, Pinter had been considered a different kind of absurdist dramatist. Less dark than Beckett, but just as effective. And perhaps much more lucid. While Beckett alludes to the bleakness and meaninglessness of...more
Jun 27, 2014Teresa rated it really liked it · review of another edition
In Pinter's The Caretaker, there is the Pinter-room, here both a haven and a hell for the character of the old man. There are the Pinter-pauses and the Pinter-humor, both used to great effect, though the Pinter-pitch-perfect dialogue does become a bit repetitive. The play could've been shorter and still achieved the same effect, even with each of the three characters getting his own lengthy monologue, one per act.
There is also the Pinter-ambiguity. Is the older brother who has had electroshock t...more
There is also the Pinter-ambiguity. Is the older brother who has had electroshock t...more
Apr 26, 2019Jim rated it really liked it · review of another edition
These two plays by Harold Pinter made me wish I had seen them performed. 'The Caretaker' is about two brothers who allow an old bum to live in the flat that one of them owns as a caretaker. The old man, called Davies, plays one brother off the other, until both of them feel they are being manipulated and send him off. In 'The Dumb Waiter' two gunmen are in the basement waiting for orders to kill someone. As they wait, strange peremptory food orders come down through the dumb waiter. Both plays a...more
May 13, 2018David Stephens rated it really liked it · review of another edition
I sometimes wonder whether certain artists purposely leave matters vague in the hope that us overly analytical readers will believe there is something profound going on if we do enough detective work. I especially can't help but wonder this when I read/watch Harold Pinter plays, but at some point, there do seem to be enough details and recurring ideas and accusations that connect to show that his writing is more than merely vague. When one character seems to fear being idle and then another char...more
Jun 27, 2017Drew rated it really liked it · review of another edition
'The Caretaker' is one of my favorite Pinter plays. 'The Dumb Waiter,' one of my least favorite. So this collection is like the best and worst of Pinter -- the first part being rich with strange tensions, weird power plays, and unexpected poignancies; the second being a little too jokey, more of a sketch then an actual drama. But even bad Pinter is better than much else. He's always got a little of the creep factor in just about everything he does to keep things interesting.
The story of The Caretaker revolves around a drifter named Davies who ends up being taken in by a man named Aston who lives in one room of a run-down house owned by his brother, Mick. After meeting each other at a pub, Aston, who once spent time in a psychiatric hospital and seems to have been lobotomized, allows Davies to come home with him and offers up a spare bed in his room.
Each brother, at different times, offers Davies the job of caretaker in this house and toward the end of the play the...more
Each brother, at different times, offers Davies the job of caretaker in this house and toward the end of the play the...more
Oct 24, 2008jeremy rated it really liked it
originally staged in 1960, the caretaker confirmed pinter's renown as a playwright. with little more than three actors and a single room, the caretaker illustrates an eccentric piteousness that eventually devolves into frustration and indifference. with wry humor and idiomatic genius, pinter veers towards the inscrutable just long enough to disperse with the expectations one may have in regards to contemporary drama. there is a dissociation between pinter's characters that leaves the reader feel...more
Nov 19, 2016Lucile Barker rated it did not like it
153. The Caretaker/The Dumbwaiter by Harold Pinter
Too surreal in the case of the Caretaker and too predictable in that of The Dumbwaiter. A grubby old man, Davies, is taken home by a young man, Aston, and allowed to stay in the house, which seems to be crumbling around them. Aston has brain damage from shock treatment in a psychiatric hospital. A second young man, Mick, Aston’s brother, says he is the owner. The two brothers take turns terrorizing the old man and there is no real conclusion. Th...more
Too surreal in the case of the Caretaker and too predictable in that of The Dumbwaiter. A grubby old man, Davies, is taken home by a young man, Aston, and allowed to stay in the house, which seems to be crumbling around them. Aston has brain damage from shock treatment in a psychiatric hospital. A second young man, Mick, Aston’s brother, says he is the owner. The two brothers take turns terrorizing the old man and there is no real conclusion. Th...more
*4 for Dumbwaiter, 3 for caretaker
A note on The Dumbwaiter: This is a curious case of a play, for me. For one, I knew the ending and general plot already...thanks quiz bowl giveaways... And for another I had watched a movie that reminded me of that plot [In Bruges], which prompted me to read the book.
Pinter's works are...typical plays? They take a few moments and make them dramatic. I didn't particularly like or dislike them. Fairly short, too.
I would recommend Dumbwaiter. Godotesque, I think....more
A note on The Dumbwaiter: This is a curious case of a play, for me. For one, I knew the ending and general plot already...thanks quiz bowl giveaways... And for another I had watched a movie that reminded me of that plot [In Bruges], which prompted me to read the book.
Pinter's works are...typical plays? They take a few moments and make them dramatic. I didn't particularly like or dislike them. Fairly short, too.
I would recommend Dumbwaiter. Godotesque, I think....more
this book was a waste of time for me, my first comment when i finsihed the first plat was: WTF, after the second play, i decided i will never read anything again by the nobel Laureate, Harold Pinter. In the Caretaker, he tortures the reader with the lack of plot, there is Nothing in the play, absloutely nothing, it could have been a play about someone who went into the supermarket to buy anything!! i read reviews about it, and the readers were astonished by the writer's ability to torture his re...more
I started off '09 with one of my unfortunate habits of reading something by an author whose obituary had just been published. I was expecting to really like Pinter's style and he delivered. Nothing more, nothing less, just lots of good, tense dialogue. I think I preferred The Dumb Waiter due to my weakness for hitmen drama.
Dec 22, 2011Paul rated it liked it · review of another edition
The Caretaker didn't really hit me, but I did like the Dumb Waiter. I mean, Pinter's good, and everything here was sharp. Dialogue was nice and snappy, funny, but overall things were somewhat absurdist and I think I'll have to give this another try another time.
Apr 24, 2012Emily rated it really liked it
I only read The Dumbwaiter in my literature textbook for my class this semester, and I really enjoyed it. I think I'm coming to find that I like reading plays more than I like reading anything else. We still have one more to read - Arcadia, by Tom Stoppard. We'll see how that goes.
The Caretaker and the Dumb Waiter by Harold Pinter (1960)
this is a play with a special atmosphere.
Aug 15, 2011Terry rated it liked it
Just read The Caretaker as a way to get ready for The Imaginists' performances later this month. As usual, reading a play wasn't as satisfying as I expect the stage presentation to be.
Jul 19, 2015Muzzy rated it it was ok
Not bad, but I prefer 'Betrayal.' I need to see the Dumbwaiter performed to appreciate it fully.
Interesting plays, stylistically strong. Pinter lends credible voices to his characters, but these works seem like they would be much stronger acted out (as they are supposed to be) than read.
Sep 04, 2015Tom Romig rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
Two fine examples of Pinter's often vaguely menacing world of confused people who never seem to grasp the whole picture. They are troublingly like ourselves.
Nov 23, 2012Shannon rated it liked it
Clueless. I was clueless when I started reading Harold Pinter.
Sep 06, 2014Susannah rated it liked it
The Caretaker finished on September 15, 1997; The Dumb Waiter finished on September 10, 1997, both for Modern British Drama class
Aug 19, 2008Karen rated it really liked it
The Dumb Waiter Harold Pinter Pdf Viewer Free
I know that I had to read them both, but I don't remember anything about The Caretaker. But The Dumb Waiter-- wow! It was intense. A riveting play. Seeing it performed would be amazing.
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Harold Pinter Plays
Harold Pinter, CH, CBE, was an English playwright, screenwriter, actor, director, political activist, and poet. He was one of the most influential playwrights of modern times. In 2005 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
After publishing poetry and acting in school plays as a teenager in London, Pinter began his professional theatrical career in 1951, touring throughout Ireland. From 1952...more
After publishing poetry and acting in school plays as a teenager in London, Pinter began his professional theatrical career in 1951, touring throughout Ireland. From 1952...more
The Dumb Waiter Harold Pinter
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