The Dumb Waiter

The Dumb Waiter, drama in one act by Harold Pinter, produced in 1959 and published in 1960. It projected the uneasy feeling of comic menace that was prevalent in Pinter’s early plays.

The Dumb Waiter is a two-character play set in the basement of an old rooming house, connected to the rooms above by a dumbwaiter and an intercom. Ben and Gus make small talk and wait. It becomes obvious that they are hired killers who are waiting for their victim, whose identity they have not yet been told. The dumbwaiter goes up and down, bearing notes ordering food that the two men cannot possibly provide. Ben and Gus rehearse the murder they are about to commit. Gus leaves the room. Answering a call on the intercom, Ben is ordered to shoot the first person who comes in the room. He calls for Gus: they have their orders. Ben points his gun at the door, ready to shoot, as Gus enters the room. The two men stare at each other in terror.