A Slight Ache and The Dumb Waiter make Pinter Seven a stirring finale to Pinter at the Pinter at the Harold Pinter Theatre
“Speak to me of love”
Pinter Seven is the final entry in the Pinter at the Pinter season of limited-run short play revivals (a full length production of Betrayal then follows to cap everything off) and it is a fitting finale as it draws together two strong pieces in A Slight Ache and The Dumb Waiter and does wonders with both.
Danny Dyer and Martin Freeman play the slightly inept gunmen of the latter with a real sense of blokish glee as they banter to great effect in setting up for new job, while both suggesting a darkening and deepening of tone as they move closer to the truth of what they’re doing and why they’re there.
But for me, A Slight Ache was the standout as Jamie Lloyd’s production of this radio play is envisioned with a startling clarity and a memorable staging that delves deep into the psychology of the writing. John Heffernan and Gemma Whelan play actors performing a radio play but it becomes so much more as fiction bleeds into (their) reality.
Four cracking performances in two compelling plays – Pinter would be proud.
