Sydney review - The Caretaker: completely watchable and enjoyable

By Paul Kiely

The Caretaker

By Harold Pinter

Directed by Iain Sinclair

An Ensemble Theatre Production

Ensemble Theatre

78 McDougall Street, Kirribilli

Season: 14 October – 19 November 2022. Bookings: https://ensemble.com.au

Duration: 135 minutes plus two 15-minute intervals

here is no mistaking where The Caretaker is located. As the lights dim, the powerful throng of the bells of Big Ben ring twelve times. Mick, a builder who “has his own van,” sits solemnly on a single bed in a shabby boarding house in the late 1950’s. He is surrounded by meagre furnishings, junk knick-knacks, a gas stove that is not connected and a bucket hanging from the ceiling. The only thing remotely uplifting is the bleak, wet weather of central London.

The set is perfectly depressing. It is small, raised up but prepared with all the hallmarks of a hoarder’s paradise. It feels claustrophobic and suffocating. Without a single word being spoken, the set has become a central character.

Such is the brilliance of the Ensemble’s production of The Caretaker. Harold Pinter’s literary landmark play is celebrated with precision interpretation by Director Iain Sinclair.

Best described as an absurd comedic drama, I saw flashes of Monty Python -style dialogue. The plot and the communication between characters is sometimes irrational and unreal. Ant yet, it is completely watchable and enjoyable.

The story starts with Aston offering a homeless man called Davies temporary lodging in his own room until he can get back on track. Aston is a simple, well-intentioned character with a good heart. For example, he offers Davies two pairs of shoes, some coins for a meal and a bed to sleep in. Davies, on the other hand is ungrateful and distrusts everyone. He blames societies ills on migrants from Europe and Asia and the “bastards in the monastery.” His own past is a jumble of lies and deceptions. The world is against him, but he feels he can right himself and get work if only he can recover his identity papers from a place called Sidcup. Of course, Davies is work-wary and so he always finds a reason not to go; it could be that the shoes are ill-fitting or have no laces; or the weather is no good.

Aston continues to offer friendship by giving Davies a key to the room.

The third character is Mick, Aston’s brother. Unaware of Aston’s generosity to Davies, he visits the room the next day, only to find a vagrant (Davies) rummaging through his brothers’ belongings. He stalks him like a lion and finally hurls him to the floor for interrogation.

Through a barrage of fast and quick-witted questions, Mick highlights the insecurities and lying-nature of Davies. Mick turns the questioning into a game of intellect and shows no mercy by bamboozling Davies with his superior knowledge of finance, banking and decorating.

With the three characters now disclosed in full flight, it is evident that they are all dysfunctional, lonely and paranoid. Depression is in there as well to varying degrees.

The conversations begin to get bizarre as only these three misfits can do. The two brothers, independently of each other, offer Davies the role of caretaker for the building. Davies, for his part, attempts to drive a wedge between the brothers, but with their eccentricities unleashed, nothing is predictable.

The attraction of Pinter’s writing is in his ability to create reality out of the strange. You need to listen carefully to the words and consider the context in which they are said. Equally effective is his use of silent moments to deepen the audiences’ connection with the characters

The Director, cast and crew are very much in sync in The Caretaker. No detail has been overlooked as all the strands of production intertwine and connect.

The cast could not have been better. Darren Gilshenen as Davies, Anthony Gooley as Aston and Henry Nixon as Mick give their all to each role. They provide meaning to the idea that there is a thin line between genius and insanity.

Lighting (Matt Cox) and sound (Daryl Wallis) were outstanding and the costumes/set design (Veronique Benett) was precise.

The Caretaker is a model of great theatrical work. I commend it to anyone who appreciates imagery-infused writing, template production standards and stimulating entertainment.