The Room and The Dumb Waiter In these two early one-act plays, Harold Pinter reveals himself as already in full control of his unique ability to make dramatic poetry of the banalities of everyday speech and the precision with which it defines character. 'Harold Pinter is the most original writer to have emerged from the "new wave" of dramatists who gave fresh life to the British theatre in the fifties and early sixties.' The Times

This collection of essays focuses on one of Harold Pinter's most popular and challenging plays, The Dumb Waiter, while addressing also a range of significant issues current in Pinter studies and which are applicable beyond this play. The interesting and provocative dialogues between established and emerging scholars featured here provide close readings of The Dumb Waiter, within relevant cultural and historical contexts and from a range of theoretical perspectives. The essays range over issues of autobiography and theater, genre studies, and the impact of Pinter's political activism on his dramatic production, among others. The collection is also concerned with the meaning of the play when assessed against other example's of Pinter's work, both dramatic and non-dramatic writing. Each contributor shows a gift for presenting a complex argument in an accessible style, making this book an important resource for a wide range of readers, from undergraduates to postgraduates and specialist researchers. The collection offers essays that approach The Dumb Waiter, from an interdisciplinary perspective and as both a literary and dramatic text. Thus, the book should be of equal significance to those encountering Pinter within the context of English Studies, drama, and performance.

In spite of steady growth in popularity, Pinter's plays have continued to elude adequate critical appraisal. Considering the last decade's scholarship, Austin E. Quigley attributes the impasse in Pinter criticism to the failure of Pinter's readers to appreciate the diversity of ways in which language can transmit information. This explanation places recent commentaries in a new light and enables the author to take a fresh approach to the plays themselves. Originally published in 1975. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

'The Dumb Waiter' tells the story of two orphans. Tom Broom is raised by his grandfather - an aficionado of fine desserts and a long standing member of The Pudding Club. Stella Brighton lives under the guardianship of a failing grandmother, preceding that of a chaotic aunt with an appetite for decorating and occasional prostitution. Both orphans seek to escape an unwanted childhood: Tom through an imaginary lover, whilst Stella grows up in an invented world of letter writing. Patched-up and raised to the brink of adulthood, their paths cross in the university city of York. Tom takes the cellar rooms of an old house discovering a boarded up dumb waiter connecting him to fellow tenant, Klaus, a womanizing student of art whilst Stella shares a flat with Martha, an American shoe heiress. The two are drawn into a circle of acquaintances and become friends. When the circle disintegrates Tom decides to travel to London in search of his mother, only to find more of a family than he bargained for.

Presents selections of the work of playwright Harold Pinter. Includes key plays, poetry, and the 2005 Nobel Prize in Literature lecture.

Jacket description.back: In all of Pinter's plays, seemingly ordinary events become charged with profound, if elusive, meaning, haunting pathos, and wild comedy. In The Caretaker, a tramp finds lodging in the derelict house of two brothers; in The Dumbwaiter, a pair of gunmen wait for the kill in a decayed lodging house. Harold Pinter gradually exposes the inner strains and fear of his characters, alternating hilarity and character to create and almost unbearable edge of tension.