Hampstead Theatre to reopen next month with The Dumb Waiter revival

Hampstead Theatre will reopen with a new production of The Dumb Waiter, which was initially scheduled to run this spring.

Marking 60 years since Harold Pinter's play had its world premiere at the north London venue, the drama about two men stuck in a room will be directed by Alice Hamilton.

Artistic director Roxana Silbert said: "I am so delighted to be able to share this news today. As Hampstead Theatre, along with our colleagues in live performance, start to find our feet in this ‘new normal', we are very excited to be able to present Alice Hamilton's 60th anniversary production of The Dumb Waiter.

"When we closed the building on 16 March the set was on the stage and the show was about to open. At that point, we could not have envisaged how Pinter's brilliant play of two men stuck in a room – their sharp humour, ennui, tensions, – would come to feel so extraordinarily fresh and resonant.

"We are thrilled at the prospect of welcoming our artists and audiences back into the building and galvanised by the prospect of sharing the communal experience which is unique to live theatre."

Hamilton is joined by designer James Perkins, with lighting design by James Whiteside and composition amd sound design by Giles Thomas.

The theatre will reduce its capacity to 193 seats, with social distanced measures in place. The theatre adds that the air in the main house auditorium is changed completely every 4 minutes and 45 seconds.

The Dumb Waiter runs from 18 November to 19 December, with casting to be announced.