In The Dumb Waiter, two hitmen wait for their next assignment

By Robert W. McDowell, Triangle Theater Review, RobertM748@aol.com

Bare Theatre will present The Dumb Waiter, a 1957 one-act play about two hitmen by award-winning British dramatist, screenwriter, and poet Harold Pinter, Sept. 21-24 at Common Ground Theatre in Durham, NC. Also an actor, director, and political activist, Pinter recently capped his stellar career as a writer by winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2005.

Bare Theatre founder and artistic director Carmen-maria Mandley will play Ben, and Jesse R. Gephart will portray Gus. Guest director Christopher Beaulieu will stage the show.

Beaulieu recalls, “[The Dumb Waiter] was introduced to me about 10 years ago when a friend of mine from New York wanted me to direct it and play Ben. So, I did and it was a hard and fun challenge. That was at Main Street Theatre in Massachusetts during summer season in the Berkshires.”

He adds, “I think the most intriguing part of this play is the questions. The character of Gus is so curious about his work, environment, and goals that it gets him into some trouble as he ends up questioning the authority around him. As we well know, in this day and age, when you question authority, it becomes irrational and tells you things like ‘If you’re not with us you’re against us.’ I believe we need to always question the logic and figure out how to keep our humanity.”

Beaulieu says, “[The Dumb Waiter] loosely is about two hitmen—Gus (Jesse R. Gephart) and Ben (Carmen-maria Mandley)—that are waiting [in a basement hotel room] for their next assignment. This one-act brings these two characters together and apart in a dark comedy that reveals what people will do for their job and their friends.”

In addition to director Christopher Beaulieu, who doubles as set and sound designer for the show, the creative team for The Dumb Waiter includes technical director Dean Rayburn, lighting designer Andy Parks, costume designer Jeremy Clos, properties mistress Sarah Schmitt, and stage manager Beth Rayburn.

“[T]his was a fun, fast production that was able to roll with punches down the line,” says Christopher Beaulieu. He says the show’s set is “minimalist—film noir—black and white”; its lighting is “one look ([The Dumb Waiter] takes place in actual time [in] an hour)”; and its costumes are “black-and-white suits [a la] Reservoir Dogs.”

Beaulieu adds, “The evening is [really] two different productions. The first half of the evening is a performance by Brent McCoy, a traveling street-theater professional that we were lucky enough to get our hands on for the week. His show is called BLuNDeR CoNsTrUcTiON, and it is a performance that lives in the same world as Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. [McCoy is a] theatrical clown [who] plays with the audience and amazes them with his amazing prop manipulation. [It’s t]he best diablo act I’ve ever seen.”

Bare Theatre presents The Dumb Waiter Thursday-Friday, Sept. 21-22, at 8 p.m.; Saturday, Sept. 23, at 2 and 8 p.m.; and Sunday, Sept. 24, at 2 p.m. at Common Ground Theatre, 4815B Hillsborough Rd., Durham, North Carolina. $15 ($7 students, seniors, and military personnel). 919/771-3281 or http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/6971. Bare Theatre: http://www.baretheatre.org/next.html. Common Ground Theatre: http://www.cgtheatre.com/. Harold Pinter (Wikipedia): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Pinter. The Dumb Waiter (Wikipedia): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dumb_Waiter. Christopher Beaulieu: http://www.creativelyindependent.net/teachers.html#C. Brent McCoy: http://www.brentmccoy.com/.

 

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