Review: THE CARETAKER, Bristol Old Vic

Crafting The Caretaker (or indeed any Pinter) off the page takes a great deal of nuance and skill. Thankfully, in this new co-production from the Bristol Old Vic and Royal & Derngate Northampton, Christopher Haydon directs with the right amount of faithfulness to the text alongside flexibility for his cast.

Set in an upper floor flat in London, Davies is a homeless man, saved from a punch up on the streets by Aston, who has offered to let him stay with him. What follows is an intricate set of peaks and troughs as Aston and his brother Mick provide us with glimpses of their past and their dreams for the future, while Davies tries to back the right horse to keep the roof over his head.

For Pinter aficionados there may be one too many liberties taken with the script but Patrice Naiambana as Davies, brings a pleasing change of pace to the script with his Caribbean flow. Contrasted with the exacting and precise Mick (David Judge) their scenes provide the highlights of the production. The delicious tension with which Judge moves is a delight.

Oliver Townsend's design is a constant marvel. It's as if a normal flat, full of odds and ends has exploded and then frozen in time while on its way back down to earth. It's the perfect accompaniment to the nightmarish goings on in the flat, as if it could all come crashing down at any second. The trickle of rain down the window is a constant reminder of the bleakness.

For all its style though, the production doesn't always find its rhythm. There are dropped lines here and there and the monologues that punctuate the dialogue do grow but never quite to the depths you hope for. Wisely perhaps, Haydon doesn't play the script too much for laughs but that does make the revelations in the play less uncomfortable without the contrast.

What is apparent though, is that Haydon is looking to find new meaning from the text, all the talk from Davies of his ID papers, work references and foreigners next door seems pertinent in the context of modern Britain. In this, the production breaks new ground, even if it's a little bumpy along the way.

The Caretaker at Bristol Old Vic until 30 September

Photo credit: Iona Firouzabadi

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