'The
Caretaker' by Harold Pinter is one of the most peculiar plays i have ever read. It is written in his usual absurdist style, with focus and characterisations changing almost as
quickly as the scenes.
The
play focuses on three characters:
Mick
Aston
Davies
Mick and Aston are
brothers who share a flat in West London. They are busy refursbishing it, since it is in a state of dis-repair. Aston wants to build a shed in the garden.
The play is set in the one room, and starts with Aston bringing Davies, a
tramp, in from the streets so he can have a place to stay. It emerges that Davies has a flase name 'Jenkins', and that he needs to get his papers from Sidcup so he can prove his genuine identity.
Aston seems friendly towards the tramp, offering him a job as a caretaker, but soon when his brother Mick arrives, his persona changes very quickly to hatred. This alternates between both brothers until Davies pulls a knife on Mick and Mick throws him out.
That's a heavily summarised outline of the plot. So, what does this play have to teach us? Perhaps that in all of us is a caring sensitive side, but that only temporarily displaces our mean and heartless interior? Or that people's reliance on others is the start of all our troubles?
Whatever your interpretation, i certainly feel that this is an entertaining and intriguing play, which i heartily enjoyed reading,