“It’s got a deficient ballcock, that’s all.”

Preview of ‘The Dumb Waiter’ which opens at The Assembly Rooms on Thursday.


You don’t know why you’re laughing but you are.
-Michael Forde

Rehearsals are coming into their final stages for The Dumb Waiter, presented by NADSAT productions.

Where / when is it on?
This coming Thursday, Friday, Saturday (11th– 13th October) at The Assembly Rooms (opposite Hatfield, for all you Freshers).

Who’s in it?

Xander Drury as Ben (Left) and Michael Forde as Gus (Right).

Directed by Charlie Oulton.
Produced by Hannah Samano.
Technical Direction by Zoe Ogahara.

What is it?
A one act black comedy by Harold Pinter.

What’s it about?

Ben and Gus are waiting for an assignment. The brooding Ben reads the paper. The twitchy Gus fails to flush the toilet. Once the oddness of their surroundings escalates and the dialogue turns ever more absurd, the mysterious unspecified “job” draws nearer.

Some cool quotes.

It’s got a deficient ballcock, that’s all.
-Ben
—————————————————
Yes, I’m quite taken with the crockery here
-Gus

 

Why should you see it?

  • It’s by Pinter – you know its well-written.
  • It’s “cultural” (quote Xander Drury).
  • It’s short and sweet (it’s only 50 minutes).
  • It’s a rare sight in Durham – its been 2 years since Pinter was last on at The Assembly Rooms.
  • Oh, and it’s the play that inspired In Bruges.

How are NADSAT productions staging it?

  • Charlie and the cast have experimented together, attempting to achieve a production as that is as close to Pinter’s original intentions as possible.
  • Focus placed on capturing the mood and undertones.
  • Spent a couple of days blocking the entire production – by day 4 they were already working out the ‘dynamics’ of each scene.
  • Attempting to avoid the common pitfalls of Pinter – either boring audiences with seemingly bland language or, equally, teasing out every comic bit.


30 seconds with Zoe Ogahara, Technical Director

  • The Dumb Waiter has a very important presence – it is almosta third character. The construction of it and production of its sound has taken some time.
  • The setting – a basement – needs to be quite realistic, quite cold, quite small and dark. Using the Assembly Rooms, being as big as they are, means we need to narrow the stage space.
  • Other than that we’ve been experimenting with atmospheric sound, real-time constant lighting, and shadow work.