Impressions: Pinter’s The Caretaker
Jonathan Pryce returns to the Liverpool Everyman in Harold Pinter’s ‘The Caretaker’ as Davies the loquacious tramp. Pryce first arrived at the Everyman forty years ago and soon found himself running the theatre for six months. Since then, Pryce appeared in The Caretaker in 1981 at the National Theatre playing the Mick, the dangerous young hustler, and now graduates into the role of the ever complicated and equivocal Davies. As I find almost always with Pinter, you either love it or you loathe it… I personally love it! This is a fantastically witty and unapologetically courageous piece that is simply enchanting. Pryce’s character is very natural, not over-thought as can sometimes be detrimental with Pinter’s works. The play is cleverly complemented by a suitably squalid set and delicate, subdued lighting. The Everyman is such an beguiling and unpretentious space that succors this type of production perfectly. The theatre is deservedly receiving redevelopment next year as part of an ambitious 28 million pound capital project across the two venues but Pryce was pleased to return to the venue as he remembers it from those many years ago.
A perfectly delightful evening at the theatre, The Caretaker plays until 31st October at The Liverpool Everyman and from 2nd to 7th November at the Bath Theatre Royal.
theatreJunki © 2009
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