Caretaker

A major revival of Harold Pinter's classic play The Caretaker in London starring Jonathan Pryce. This production comes to London's West End following a critically acclaimed season at Liverpool's Everyman Theatre in October 2009.

Aston, who has a history of mental illness brings home Davies, a bad-tempered tramp, to live in a dilapidated London flat with himself and his volatile brother, Mick. Power games and simmering tension combine with wonderful comedy and Pinter's eloquent dialogue to make The Caretaker a totally mesmerising experience.

"A very strong revival, with Jonathan Pryce on superb form" The Independent on Sunday

The cast for this production of The Caretaker in London features Jonathan Pryce as 'Davies' along with Tom Brooke as 'Mick' and Peter McDonald as 'Aston'. The production is directed by Christopher Morahan, with designs by Eileen Diss, lighting by Colin Grenfell and sound by Tom Lishman.

Jonathan Pryce - "a masterly portrait, brutal and pathetic" The Sunday Times

"Jonathan Pryce is a magnetic performer who brings with him an aura of vulnerability, whether playing a Bond villain or a tramp. Here, he's revisiting two old grounds - the Everyman, where he began his acting career in the early 1970s, and Harold Pinter's landmark play from 1960, in which he appeared as Mick with Warren Mitchell at the National in 1980. But there's nothing second-hand about his fresh and persuasive performance here as Davies, the iconic old-man role... Christopher Morahan's production is steady and evocative." The Times

"It is a masterly performance. Jonathan Pryce shuffles on to the stage looking as though he collided with his clothes rather than put them on. Tiny details in his performance convince you that this man has spent long years on the road: the caution about committing to any definite course of action; the care with which he examines a pair of old shoes; the alacrity with which he seizes a proffered sandwich. But he also keeps an air of mystery about his character... But this is far from being just Pryce's show. Peter McDonald and Tom Brooke are nicely counterpoised as the two brothers in charge of the property where Davies washes up." The Financial Times

"As you would expect, it's a thoughtful, intelligent piece of work... Its most original feature is the decision to make Pinter's hobo hero specifically Welsh. This fits in with Pryce's background and accords with a man whose name is, variously, Davies and Jenkins... Pryce gives a first-rate performance that gradually reveals the viper lurking underneath the vagrant as he ruinously transfers his loyalty from the hospitable Aston to his hostile brother, Mick. What is impressive about Pryce, a battered tramp with an El Greco face, is his ability to catch the sudden shifts within Pinter's character... What this revival confirms is the durability of Pinter's play: a richly poetic work about three men in a room who are all sustained by pipe dreams and at the same time engaged in a battle for power." The Guardian

The Caretaker in London at the Trafalgar Studios 1, previews from 12 January 2010, opens on 18 January 2010 and closes on 17 April 2010. Prior to London the production was staged at The Everyman Theatre in Theatre where it previewed from 2 October 2009, opened on 8 October 2009 and closed on 31 October 2009 before playing at The Theatre Royal in Bath from 2 to 7 November 2009.