Reviews
Reviews
User Review: 11Jan01: Sir [Michael Gambon], face smeared with too much dirt, hair in whispy, grease-ridden tufts, eyes hooded against intrusive glances, totters on in a nervy shuffle. His tattered clothes look as if stuck to his grimy flesh. [Rob Howell]'s terrific set, with gloomy piles of junk , crumbling walls and roof, perfectly matches the Gambon tramp. Is it imagination you can almost smell him from the the stalls? This cunning old vagrant, who not only looks a gift horse in the mouth but tries to ride it away as well, intends to secure a foothold in this room. And his pathetic campaign inspires The Caretaker's action. Surprisingly, Sir Michael's flamboyant performance, despite its virtuoso comic pleasures, rings untrue. It's taken at far too loud and extravagant a pitch from the start and never lets up, while his accent crisscrosses from Wales to the East End. Yet what a wrenching, dark, dramatic comedy [Patrick Marber] and his actors still make of this vintage [Harold Pinter] User Reviews
Evening Standard (11Jan01): Sir [Michael Gambon], face smeared with too much dirt, hair in whispy, grease-ridden tufts, eyes hooded against intrusive glances, totters on in a nervy shuffle. His tattered clothes look as if stuck to his grimy flesh. [Rob Howell]'s terrific set, with gloomy piles of junk , crumbling walls and roof, perfectly matches the Gambon tramp. Is it imagination you can almost smell him from the the stalls? This cunning old vagrant, who not only looks a gift horse in the mouth but tries to ride it away as well, intends to secure a foothold in this room. And his pathetic campaign inspires The Caretaker's action. Surprisingly, Sir Michael's flamboyant performance, despite its virtuoso comic pleasures, rings untrue. It's taken at far too loud and extravagant a pitch from the start and never lets up, while his accent crisscrosses from Wales to the East End. Yet what a wrenching, dark, dramatic comedy [Patrick Marber] and his actors still make of this vintage [Harold Pinter]
Disturbed handyman Aston has invited an irascible tramp to stay with him at his brother's jumbled London flat. At first it seems that the manipulative guest will take advantage of his vulnerable host. But when Aston's brother Mick arrives, an enigmatic power struggle emerges between the three men that is in equal parts menacing, touching and darkly comic... The play also celebrates Pinter's 70th birthday.
