HAROLD PINTER DOUBLE BILL at Greenwich Theatre

Greenwich Theatre is making quite a name for itself with its in-house productions of works by great contemporary playwrights.

In recent times artistic director James Haddrell has staged brilliant versions of dramas by the likes of Michael Frayn, Caryl Churchill and Steven Berkoff – the latter featuring Greenwich patron Helen Mirren.

Now Haddrell and his team are reaching new heights with a double bill of one-act plays by Harold Pinter which form the centrepiece of the theatre's spring season.

The Dumb Waiter focuses on two hitmen waiting for instructions in a derelict building who start getting weird messages through the serving contraption that gives the play its name. Meanwhile, A Slight Ache features a posh couple whose lives are turned upside down when they invite a stranger into their home.

Although both were written very early in his career, they already pulsate with Pinter’s trademark combination of comedy, menace, poetry, surrealism and anger which infused all his amazing creations and won him worldwide acclaim and a Nobel prize.

Greenwich’s production, which runs from 12 May to 3 June, stars a trio of actors with wide experience of stage and screen. Kerrie Taylor is a TV regular who was last seen at Greenwich Theatre in March in the extraordinary White Rabbit Red Rabbit, Jude Akuwudike has appeared in lauded productions at the National and the Globe and Tony Mooney has combined small-screen appearances with movie roles.

Haddrell said: “I am excited to be twinning these two plays. At first sight they could not be more different, yet both reveal Pinter’s astonishing ability to identify our insecurities in the spoken and the unspoken and to blend the naturalistic with the surreal.

“And both end with an image that will stay with people long after they’ve left the theatre.”

More info and how to book tickets at https://greenwichtheatre.org.uk/events/the-dumb-waiter-a-slight-ache/