The Dumb Waiter

A classic by Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter takes you on a journey of two characters, stranded in an abandoned room. This journey, seemingly straighforward, transcends to contemporary politics, class system, not only locally but also globally in a very subtle way. Adapted in Hindustani, it has been Indianised with an interesting linguistic flavour. The play crosses the boundaries of a typical proscenium setup to add newer dimensions.

'Small but perfectly formed', The Dumb Waiter might be considered one of the best of Harold Pinter's plays. It combines theclassic characteristics of early Pinter a paucity of information and an atmosphere of menace, working-class small-talk in a claustrophobic setting, with an oblique but palpable political edge and, in so doing, can be seen as containing the germ of Pinters entire dramatic oeuvre.

'The Dumb Waiter is Pinter distilled the very essence of a writer who tapped into our desire to seek out meaning, confront injustice and assert our individuality.

This production is adapted in Hindustani and set in present day Maharashtra, where characters respond to todays social scenarios. Pinter

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s plays generally take place in a single, prison-like room. His works, which blend comedy and drama, often focus on jealousy, betrayal, and sexual politics, but it is his dialogue and the lack of dialogue for which he is known.

Director's note: 
'The Dumb Waiter' resonates for me a contemporary take on Beckett’s ‘Waiting for godot’. Here the wait ends in a massacre ... of ideologies, of perception. The inability to move/think ahead without a nod (in the play) reflects the 

lives we are leading today. Harold Pinter’s ‘The Dumb Waiter’ gave me a whole range of possibilities to explore space, character, audiences’ experience; and to play in a real space gave another dimension to this wonderfully orchestrated text.

About the style:
The play has a unique style in terms of its viewing experience. Use of live cameras has a conceptual meaning that adds new dimensions to the text and the interpretation.  

Cast and Crew:

Original Script: Harold Pinter
Adapted by: Sumedh, Harsh Khurana
Produced by: Samagra Creations

Conceptualised and Directed by: Tushar Pandey

Scenography: Asheish Nijhawan
Technical Director: Sumedh
Camera: Satyajeet Shobha Shriram
Performed by: Nitin Bhajan, Purnanad
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