As a fitting conclusion to their Pinter Festival (to 8/22), the Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre and their repertory cast perform a pair of one-acts that bookend the playwright's career: The Room (1957) and Celebration (2000).  It is an excellent opportunity to see both the span of the writer's work and the range of these talented actors' repertoires in one very entertaining sitting. These plays will be performed just two more times (8/19 & 20). 

Though well known for his longer works, a case could be made that Mr. Pinter's unique vision is better served in his highly focused one-acts.  His first play, The Room, offers an early glimpse into the unusual topography of an imagination that would later be defined as Pinteresque, one loaded with eccentric characters, elusive dialogue, confrontation, dark humor, and enigma.  

The protagonist Rose (Bernadette Quigley) is a middle-aged woman who seems content to live as a sort of mental shut-in in a one-room flat with an uncommunicative husband Bert (Martin Giles) and intrusive landlord Mr. Kidd (Larry John Meyers), serving as her only emissaries - and highly unreliable ones at that - to the outside world.  Ms. Quigley exudes vulnerability in her characterization of Rose.  To see her tiptoe around Mr. Giles, while he shovels in mouthfuls of food between his character's perusal of Road and Track, will bring back the dynamics of Edith and Archie Bunker.  Mr. Meyers, as the everywhere and nowhere landlord, offers a study in obfuscation:  where he comes from and what he wants is anybody's guess.  To observe these three in conversation is to listen to a verbal shell game, with the object under discussion likely to turn up anywhere.

Added to the mix is the unexpected arrival of a young flat-hunting couple, Mr. and Mrs. Sands, performed with bravado by Jarrod DiGiorgi and control (she's got hubby on a short leash) by Fredi Bernstein; and later, the surprise visit of a seeming denizen of the underworld, a blind black man named Riley played by Doug Pona, who conjures up an image of Tiresias in appearance and action.  The Sands seem to think Rose's place is available, while the sightless Riley, bearing a message, is certain she is a Rose by another name.  A voluble and volatile Bert suddenly appears to take matters in hand.  At this point I was reminded of an episode of The Twilight Zone:  "To Serve Man," where a supposed altruistic document from another world is discovered to be something far different:  a cookbook!  Is Rose being fought over or just on the menu?   

Director Sheila McKenna has indeed constructed a horror show atmosphere around the production which an excellent cast ratchets up at suitable intervals.  Gianni Downs' monastic gray-brown set, as grim a space as you'll find short of a prison, suits the mood, and works admirably with the outstanding lighting of Jim French and soft underscoring of sound designer Elizabeth Atkinson.  The effectively drab costumes of Crystal Gomes complement the color palette and circumstances.

The shocking conclusion is open to multiple interpretations, some of which are either pointed out in an excellent program essay or suggestive of our times.  However, those familiar with Pinter's work know that absolutely nothing his characters say should be taken at face value and that miscommunication abounds.  (My one slight objection to the show is that Pinter's humor is downplayed for much of the set-up.)  Rose is the most grounded, as shaky as she is.  She is the only one to present logical and coherent questions which each of her slippery antagonists artfully avoids.  It does seem that there's some dark secret from her past that she's trying to escape.  It may be that Rose is a victim of abuse or she may be projecting these characters as manifestations of her own troubled or guilty mind.  However you view it, with knowledge gained in the illuminating finale, Rose will be blinded by the light.

There'll be far less to puzzle over in the second half of the evening with the Celebration.  Viewers familiar with Monty Python will find the sketch process on steady display.  Ostensibly about an anniversary party and a chance meeting between three arriviste couples in a very upscale restaurant, you could view it as a Pinterian gala for his life's work.  The many offbeat characters and situations conjured from his fertile mind are called to the stage once more - all using words as blunt objects.  Let the revels begin!

Alan Stanford's ebullient and fast-paced production has the audience howling from the get go and holds them for the next 45 minutes.  There's a whole political and socio-economic critique embedded in the subtext, but I'll cut to the chase. The tale is one of "The Barbarians at (or within) the Gate" genre.  Frick and Frack brothers - Lambert (Michael Hanrahan) and Matt (Martin Giles) and sisters - Julie (Nike Doukas) and Prue (Bernadette Quigley) - have actually paired in matrimony, probably to keep their so-called business within the "family."  They are commemorating Lambert and Julie's happy day whose memory is enacted with the glum acceptance of an anniversary syndrome.  Mr. Hanrahan and Ms. Doukas give their stage partners a delicious degree of venom as they sit as far as they can at the same table while facing away.  Stage left, Russell (Leo Marks) and Suki (Tami Dixon) are each discovering things about their spouse's past, though Suki is considerably the sharper blade in this marital pact.  The astonishing Ms. Dixon, playing her character with the subtlety of a striptease artist on ginseng, steals this and ever scene she's in (except perhaps for a provocative turn with Mr. Hanrahan, a showman in his own right, playing the lustful Lambert).

As if more spice were required, Mr. Pinter has created an engaging restaurant staff, starting with the owner Richard (Rick McMillan), a manager Sonia (Fredi Bernstein), and last, but certainly not least, an interjecting waiter (Andrew S. Paul).  The inanities that the house and wait staff usually foist on hapless or, in this case, clueless patrons are all trotted out ("How was everything") to which this crew of cultural philistines will offer some novel rejoinders.  As in real life, nothing will get a rise out of these purveyors of service who have seen and heard it all and are by now benumbed, if they were ever listening (try it, with a smile, the next time you dine out).  The excellent Mr. Paul, who typically directs or manages, has several extended monologues in which his character's encyclopedic namedropping - at one point removed - will be impressed on your theatergoing consciousness for a lifetime.  After the tips have been dispensed and tables cleared, his character will ponder his position in the feast of life.  And he'll keep pondering, as will we all perhaps, until the lights go down.  

The scenic design of Mr. Downs conveys elegance without overload while Ms. Atkinson's sound playfully suggests the upbeat and off-kilter mood.  Ms. Gomes really outdid herself with the gorgeous costuming of the actors (which virtually disguised a returning Ms. Quigley) who were presented to best advantage by Mr. French's lighting.   Kudos to dialect coach Natalie Baker Shirer for distinguishing position and class. 

Pinter fans will not want to miss a chance to see these rarely performed plays - The Room, because it was a first and somewhat emergent play; and Celebration, in this age of 4-handers, often passed over due to the large number of actors required (i.e., cost).  It's a distinct treat to see the actors' versatility in different roles and what the production people can do with these varied shows in alternating spaces.  The performances and production values are at a high level.  The repertory format - for the actors and creative team alike - makes both possible and offers a most satisfying collaboration from the viewer's standpoint and, it certainly appears, from their own.   Bravo!       

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Sound check:  Excellent, low sound levels

Program notes:  These specific essays included with PICT's guide, offer a clear and informative look into each Pinter play and oeuvre

Applause meter:  Compared to one-acts, The Room 3 ½ hands; the Celebration, 4 ½ hands; the combined performance highly recommended

Runtime:  About 100 minutes with an intermission between plays

Photo credit:  Daisy Block