The Dumb Waiter -
One of Pinter's earliest and funniest short plays, this is a classic 'comedy of menace' that concerns two hitmen, Ben and Gus, waiting in a basement for their next assignment. As they prepare for the job, Gus tries vainly to make tea while asking increasingly penetrating questions. Things take a turn when they discover a dumb waiter that demands they prepare bizarre food orders – who is behind it? Who issues the instructions? And who will be their next victim?
Celebration -
Pinter's final short play is a hilarious social satire on money and consumption that picks at life's mysteries in an absurd but unsettling way. Lambert and Matt and their wives, sisters Prue and Julie, are celebrating an anniversary at the best restaurant in town. Vile, vacuous and nouveau riche, they have nothing real to say. At another table Russell and Suki are by turns taunting and flirting. But stranger than any of the diners are the restaurant staff, whose existential ponderings connect us to the real world.