LiveWire Theatre Critic Sophia Coltas reviews The Dumb Waiter showing as part of Re:Play Festival 2015…
The Dumb Waiter is a short comedic piece with a quite sinister twist. This tale of a waiter, who is quite simply too oblivious and too dumb for his own good, is served by a duo of brilliant actors. Alistair Michael excellently conveys the character traits of Ben (the senior member of the waiting team) from the start; he’s strict, formal and mature. However this contrasts with the junior member of the team, Gus, played by James Warburton, as he is a kind-hearted, talkative and very innocent person. The actors have obvious chemistry on stage and Gus’s silly behaviour makes their strange relationship even more hilarious. This is further emphasised by the ten minute silence at the beginning when Gus attempts to get a crisp out of a packet without making a noise, it takes him a good five minutes but he succeeds.
However, other than the acting I did not really enjoy this play. As a young viewer I believe the play was more drama than comedy which is not what I expected after attending the Re:Play press preview. Dramatic pauses lost their effect after a while and boredom did creep up on me a few times throughout. It was like waiting a little bit too long for your food in a restaurant. Also the story line was quite confusing and after leaving the play it left me puzzled and wondering what the story line actually was. The beginning started off very comedic and as the play went on the story turned a little more sinister, dramatic and thought provoking. From a young waiter being oblivious and irritating, to the senior member with random questions, trying to sneak crisps and the senior member messing his words up, it turned into a creepy story of the senior member waiting to shoot Gus. If this storyline was on a menu, I do not think I would order it. But, the older members of the audience found the humour exactly to their taste as there was constant laughter from them throughout, I also think the storyline was suited to an older audience as the suspense and performance was understood from an older perspective.
Overall, I did enjoy the acting in The Dumb Waiter, I believe the actors were some of the best I have seen in plays at HOME and even further afield. The performance was witty and enjoyable in parts, but as I mentioned earlier the play is an particular taste and would be suited to an older audience rather than a younger one. So, if you like a well done performance with a few scoops of drama this is definitely the play for you to order and enjoy.
The Dumb Waiter was shown as part of HOME’s Re:Play Festival which ran 12-24 Jan 2015.