Bringing a classic of absurdist theatre to the Sydney stage, Throwing Shade Theatre Company presents Harold Pinter’s The Caretaker at The Actor’s Pulse Studio, Redfern, from 22 November 2017.
An old bum receives shelter in a cluttered room of an abandoned house. Aston lives in personal and emotional isolation, tinkering with gadgets and dreaming of building a shed out in the yard. And Mick, who carries on like a man of affairs, inhabits a dream world that resembles an extrovert’s nightmares.
It is winter. Into his derelict household shrine Aston brings Davies, a tramp – but a tramp with pretensions, even if to the world he may be a pathetic old creature. All that is left of his past now is the existence in Sidcup of some papers, papers that will prove exactly who he is and enable him to start again.
Aston, too, has his dreams: he has always been good with his hands and there is so much to do in the house. Aston’s hopes are tied to his flash brother Mick’s; he has aspirations to live in a luxurious apartment. Human nature is a great spoiler of plans, however…
Directed by Courtney Powell, The Caretaker features Alex Bryant-Smith (The Cherry Orchard, As You Like It), Andrew Langcake (Love Song, Marat / Sade) and Nicholas Papademetriou (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, An Unseasonable Fall of Snow).
The Caretaker is, of course, a classic, but the wonderful thing about the script is its timelessness: the themes of isolation, longing and loneliness are ideas that transcend any specific context, ideas that everyone of us have lived and experienced,” says director, Courtney Powell.
“Watching three damaged, desperate characters interact, hurtling toward mutual implosion, is both sad and satisfying all at once, and with Pinter’s beautiful language underpinning the proceedings, it’s a wonderful play that we’re thrilled to be staging, and it’s an especially significant honour given that next year is the ten year anniversary of Pinter’s passing.”
Considered one of the most influential modern dramatists, Harold Pinter was a playwright, director, actor, poet and political activist. His acting and writing career spanned more than 50 years and in 2005 he won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
His legacy includes twenty-nine plays such as The Birthday Party, The Caretaker, The Homecoming, The Dumb Waiter, No Man’s Land, Moonlight, Ashes to Ashes, Party Time and Celebration; and twenty-four screenplays including The Servant, The Go-Between and The French Lieutenant’s Woman.
“In spite of the simplicity of the plot, The Caretaker is gripping from beginning to end.” – London Theatre
The Caretaker
The Playhouse – The Actor’s Pulse Studio, 103 Regent Street, Redfern
Season: 22 November – 2 December 2017
Information and Bookings: www.throwingshade.com.au
Image: Throwing Shade Theatre Company presents The Caretaker (supplied)