The Caretaker

Synopsis

The bad-tempered tramp and the two brothers. Into his derelict household shrine Aston brings Davies, a tramp - but tramp with pretensions, even if to the world he may be a pathetic old creature. All that is left of his past now is the existence in Sidcup of some papers that will prove exactly who he is and enable him to start again. Aston, too, has his dreams: he has always been good with his hands and there is so much to do in the house. Aston's hopes are tied to his flash brother Mick's; he has aspirations to live in a luxurious apartment. Human nature is a great spoiler of plans, however..

Our Review:

Michael Coveney - 19 January 2010

Jonathan Pryce is in the best possible company when you consider the other actors I’ve seen play Pinter’s charismatic old tramp Davies - Donald Pleasence, Timothy West, Warren Mitchell, Michael Gambon, David Bradley.

But what a performance he gives on his own account: wheedling, very Welsh, flea-bitten and hilariously “matey” with his repertoire of thumbs-ups and good-on-yers, spindle-shanked and cloaked in rags like a scarecrow, a regular chatterbox nutter from the underworld of cafes and doss houses on the edge of an unkind metropolis.

Pryce’s Davies steers a middle course between Gambon’s massive truculence and David Bradley’s wan bitterness: he’s made a shield of his anger and resentment and turned the idea that the world owes him a living into a carapace of need. He glints, even in the murkiness of Aston’s junk pile of a room, like a snake in the grass, or a cheap jewel on a dung heap.

It’s a truly great performance from an actor who stepped up a gear l...

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Latest User Review

rds - 30 January 2010:

I was lucky enough to see David Bradley's memorable performance at Sheffield with Con O'Neal and Nigel Harman in what was an altogether better production. Bradley's beautifully mimsy turn and Con O'Neal's heartbreaking monologue elevated this play to another level. In this production however Sam Spruell couldn't find the required menace needed for Mick which left his scenes rather underwhelming. And I couldn't help but see in Peter McDonald's Aston the cogs of acting turning, a distraction when it came to his monologue. Jonathan Pryce, however, brings all the nervy, edgy skills he can muster to the part and gives a star turn as Davies, although for me the memory of David Bradley less frenetic Davies is still so vivid in my memory that I kept wishing he was playing the part instead. ...

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