Will Madden and Ben Verdon on stage in The Dumb Waiter. Photo: Wollongong Workshop Theatre.
Harold Pinter’s dark comedy The Dumb Waiter opens at Wollongong Workshop Theatre on Thursday (19 September), along with a bonus local production.
The Dumb Waiter, produced in 1959 and published in 1960, is a two-character play set in the basement of an old rooming house connected to the rooms above by a dumb waiter and an intercom.
However, Illawarra theatregoers will also be treated to a companion piece, Upstairs, written by local playwright Ian McColm.
After reading The Dumb Waiter, Ian decided he would like to write a play to explain what might be happening upstairs.
“Pinter is a wonderfully odd writer and says so much in unique ways and I hope that my new play emulates some of this oddness,” he said.
“I really enjoy the process of watching a piece go from idea to an onstage production, especially when working with such a talented cast.”
Ian has been writing plays for more than 35 years, both for his own theatre company, The Eaton Gorge Theatre Company, and for short play festivals. Upstairs is his first piece that is written in a similar style to one of the masters.
Upstairs stars Alan McClean Dowling, Cooper Dawson and Michael Connor.
The cast of Wollongong Workshop Theatre’s Upstairs … Michael Connor, Alan McClean Dowling and Cooper Dawson. Photo: Supplied.
The Dumb Waiter’s director Michael Connor began his theatrical life with a handful of Shakespeare’s plays before acting in and directing several contemporary plays including Harold Pinter’s The Birthday Party at Workshop in 2003.
“This early play by Harold Pinter keeps the audience continually guessing and reassessing their early impressions,” he said.
“The odd dialogue and even the merest gesture together with the strange sounds and the long silences in the play add to an overwhelming feeling of unease and uncertainty,” he said.
“It has provoked deep team discussions and shared insights, which we now hope the audience will begin to discover through the performance.”
The Dumb Waiter stars two well-known Illawarra actors, Ben Verdon and Will Madden.
The production of The Dumb Waiter and Upstairs opens at 8 pm on Thursday 19 September and closes on Sunday 29 September with a 2 pm show. Wollongong Workshop Theatre is at 192 Gipps Road Gwynneville, behind the Senior Citizens Club. Visit the website for tickets.
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