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:

19 March 2007

Not content with playing Filch the caretaker at Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films, that fine spindly actor David Bradley now plays Davies the caretaker in the Harry Pinter play. This represents a sideways move, however, from holding down a job to not quite finding one.

Harold Pinter’s dirty old tramp is a homeless vagrant who has blagged his way into the room of two brothers, Mick and Aston, and finds, by default, the offer of a cup of tea and a bed for the night. He has been done out of a pair of shoes by “those bastard monks” in a monastery on the other side of Luton, and his papers are down in Sidcup.

Jamie Lloyd’s production was seen at the Sheffield Crucible last autumn and has been reconvened for the Tricycle run with the original cast of Bradley, Nigel Harman as Mick and Con O'Neill as Aston. It is a sparkish, quick-moving affair; Lloyd has been an assistant to Michael Grandage on Evita and Guys and Dolls...