The Dumb Waiter
The Dumb Waiter & House
BY HAROLD PINTER
Staged in December 2008
@ Charlotte St. Arts Centre Auditorium, Fredericton, NB
CAST/CREW
Gus – Matthew Spinney
Ben – Andrew Jones
Director – Scott Shannon
Technical Design – Nicholas Cole
Lighting/Sound Tech – Michael Holmes-Lauder
Stage Manager – Jena McLaughlin
Stagehand (“dumb waiter”) – Annick Noel
Stagehand (“dumb waiter”) – Matt Ralph
This show was staged as part of an evening of two one-act plays; it was followed by Daniel MacIvor’s House.
Production was restaged in October & November 2010.
HERE magazine:
Theatre group focuses on small scale productions
Photos by Michael Holmes-Lauder
(CLICK ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE)
Gus ties while Ben reads.
Gus & Ben
BEN is lying on a bed, left, reading a paper. GUS is sitting on a bed, right, tying his shoelaces, with difficulty. Both are dressed in shirts, trousers and braces.
Gus contemplates standing.
GUS ties his laces, rises, yawns and begins to walk slowly to the door, left. He stops, looks down, and shakes his foot.
Gus checks his right shoe.
Gus and Ben stare at each other.
BEN lowers his paper and watches him. GUS kneels and unties his shoe-lace and slowly takes off the shoe. He looks inside it and brings out a flattened matchbox. He shakes it and examines it. Their eyes meet.
Ben regards Gus.
BEN lowers his paper and watches him.
Gus about to interrupt
Gus: (He sits in a chair. Ruminatively.) He’s laid on some very nice crocery this time, I’ll say that. It’s sort of striped. There’s a white stripe.
(BEN reads)
It’s very nice. I’ll say that.
(BEN turns the page.)
Gus interrupts Ben
You know. sort of round the cup. Round the rim. All the rest of it’s black, you see. Then
the saucer’s black, except for right in the
middle, where the cup goes, where it’s white.
(BEN reads)
Then the plates are the same, you see.
Only they’ve got a black stripe – the
plates – right across the middle. Yes,
I’m quite taken with the crockery.
Ben turns his head and sees the envelope. He stands.
Ben: What’s that?
Gus: I don’t know.
Ben: Where did it come from?
Gus: Under the door.
Ben: Well, what is it?
Gus: I don’t know.
The envelope
They stare at it.
Ben: Pick it up.
Gus: What do you mean?
Ben: Pick it up!
Gus slowly moves toward it, bends and picks it up.
What is it?
Gus: An envelope.
Who says light the gas?
Gus: How can you light a kettle?
Ben: It’s a figure of speech! Light the kettle. It’s a figure of speech!
Gus: I’ve never heard it.
Ben: Light the kettle! It’s common usage!
Gus: I think you’ve got it wrong.
Ben: (menacing). What do you mean?
Gus: They say put on the kettle.
Ben: (taut).Who says?
They stare at each other, breathing hard.
Shall I try it on here?
Ben: Well, what are you waiting for?
Gus: I want to see if they light.
Ben: What?
Gus: The matches.
He takes out the flattened box and tries to strike.
No.
He throws the box under the bed.
BEN stares at him
GUS raises his foot.
Shall I try it on here?
Here we are.
BEN stares. GUS strikes a match on his shoe. It lights.
Here we are.
Ben: (wearily). Put on the bloody kettle, for Christ’s sake.
BEN goes to his bed, but, realising what he has said, stops and half turns. They look at each other.
Gus: (tentatively). I thought perhaps you might know something.
BEN looks at him.
Are you feeling alright?
Ben: Who what’s going to be?
They look at each other.
Gus: (at length). Who it’s going to be.
Silence.
Ben: Are you feeling alright?
Gus: Sure.
Ben: Go and make the tea.
Gus: Yes, sure.
The dumb waiter enters.
There is a loud clatter and racket in the bulge of wall between the beds, of something descending. They grab their revolvers, jump up and face the wall. The noise comes to a stop. Silence. They look at each other.
Everything on the plate.
Ben: I only eat those with beer!
Gus: Well, where were you going to get the beer?
Ben: I was saving them till I did.
Gus: I’ll remember this. Put everything on the plate.
They pile everything on to the plate. The box goes up without the plate.
Carton of milk.
Gus: (up the hatch). Carton of milk! Half a pint! (He looks at the label.) Express Dairy! He puts the carton in the box.)
The box goes up
Just did it.
Ben: You shouldn’t shout like that
Gus: Why not?
Ben: It isn’t done.
They've sent back the tea.
GUS looks back at the box. The packet of tea is inside it. He picks it up.
Gus: They’ve sent back the tea.
Ben: (anxious). What’d they do that for?
Gus: Maybe it isn’t tea-time
The box goes up. Silence.
Gus: They do all rights, don’t worry about that. You don’t think they’re just going to sit there and wait for stuff to come up from down here, do you? That’ll get them nowhere.
He wants a cup of tea!
Pause
They do all right.
Pause
And he wants a cup of tea.
Pause
That’s past a joke in my opinion.
The instructions.
Ben: (wearily). Be quiet a minute. Let me give you your instructions.
Gus: What for? We always do it the same way, don’t we?
Ben: Let me give you your instructions.
Gus listens to the instructions.
Ben gives the instructions.
What's he playing all these games for?!
Gus: (passionately advancing). What’s he doing it for? We’ve been through our tests, haven’t we? We got right through our tests, years ago, didn’t we? We took them together, don’t you remember, didn’t we? We’ve proved ourselves before now, haven’t we? We’ve always done our job. What’s he doing all this for? What’s the idea? What’s he playing these games for?
I'm warning you!
Ben: Stop it! You maniac!
Gus: But you heard!
Ben: (savagely). That’s enough! I’m warning you!
Gus enters from the passage door.
The door right opens sharply. BEN turns, his revolver levelled at the door.
GUS stumbles in.
He is stripped of his jacket, waistcoat, tie, holster and revolver.
Ben is standing by the kitchen door.
He stops, body stooping, his arms at his sides.
He raises his head and looks at BEN.
A long silence.
They stare at each other.
Cast and Crew
CAST & CREW
Back row: Andrew Jones, Matthew Spinney, Matt Ralph & Scott Shannon
Front row: Michael Holmes-Lauder, Annick Noel & Jena McLaughlin
Photos by Michael Holmes-Lauder.
Hey guys,
You’re a fine looking cast and crew, and Mike those pictures are beautiful! Too bad I didn’t actually get to see the thing…