THE STORY: The play, in the words of Edith Oliver, is “about a fussy, spinsterish bachelor whose carefully furnished basement flat is invaded late one night by his former roommate with a young girl in tow. Host is effusive in his welcome to former roommate, that is. Girl and former roommate strip naked and get into bed, as host, terribly rattled, continues to chatter. (The chatter is absolutely fine.) The intruders move in permanently, and soon the host’s old pictures and bits of sculpture are replaced by a huge, bright, modern abstract. And there are other innovations. As the action progresses, the roles of lover and leftover switch back and forth, and the girl, like the old bum in The Caretaker, tries to set the men against each other and succeeds. There are scenes at a beach, in a cafe, and at a bogus deathbed, and there is a duel, which is fought on a dark stage with lighted broken bottles.” In the end we are, it seems, back where we started. But not quite. We have seen, if only for a moment, the rather pathetic, trembling animals who lie beneath the veneer of the shaved, powdered exteriors, and we know that it is not relief that will come to them—just continuation.
Presented on a double bill with
Tea Party, this play offers a uniquely Pinteresque combination of bizarre humor and silken violence as it details a series of startling reversals on the eternal triangle theme.
“…The single, most stimulating playwright in the English-speaking theatre today.” —Newsday (NY).
“…Exquisite theatre.” —Women’s Wear Daily.
“…Fascinating to the point of audience hypnosis.” —The New Yorker.
Included in the collection
Tea Party and The Basement.
