The Caretaker
Faces Like Swords

" 'It's peculiar that two of the three characters in Harold Pinter's sinister masterwork say they never dream, since the play the're in is dreamlike, fragmentary, and vaguely ominous. It chronicles an attempted takeover by a mysterious outsider: Davies, an opportunstic, racist codger looking for shelter and security, is taken in by Aston, a taciturn tinkerer who connects with people only through kindness, not talk, and who makes Davies a caretaker. Aston's sadistic and sarcastic brother, Mikh, has his own plans for Davies.


07/12/02 - 08/17/02


" 'It's peculiar that two of the three characters in Harold Pinter's sinister masterwork say they never dream, since the play the're in is dreamlike, fragmentary, and vaguely ominous. It chronicles an attempted takeover by a mysterious outsider: Davies, an opportunstic, racist codger looking for shelter and security, is taken in by Aston, a taciturn tinkerer who connects with people only through kindness, not talk, and who makes Davies a caretaker. Aston's sadistic and sarcastic brother, Mikh, has his own plans for Davies. In a promising debut, this troupe, formerly members of Urbana's Celebration Company, crackles with menance, punctuating the dialogue with maddening pauses that suggest darker discoveries. Director Jarrett Dapier plays Mick with an intensity even Davies can't connive agains. Dave Stinton's straightforward line readings don't suggest Aston's inner damage, but he fully registers the character's isolation. And Gary Ambler's wheedling Davis is shuffling, sinister hostility masquerading as humility. His eyes couldn't be hungrier, his hands more grasping as he suggers every whining loser who spends much more energy shrieking than he ever would working" Lawrence Bommer, Chicago Reader July 26, 2002

Author
Harold Pinter

Director
Jarrett Dapier

Performers
Gary Ambler, Dave Stinton, Jarrett Dapier

Production
Lucrecia Blanco Trimble; Rhona Taylor ; James Kluza; Jim pProefrock; Keith Taylor; Molly Dapier; Sarah Sorentino ; Marama Platt; Elizabeth Middleton

Tags: Theater, Old Europe, 2002