The Dumb Waiter

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The Dumb Waiter is a two-character play set in the basement of an old rooming house, connected to the rooms above by a dumbwaiter and an intercom. Ben and Gus make small talk and wait. It becomes obvious that they are hired killers who are waiting for their victim, whose identity they have not yet been told. The dumbwaiter goes up and down, bearing notes ordering food that the two men cannot possibly provide. Ben and Gus rehearse the murder they are about to commit. Gus leaves the room. Answering a call on the intercom, Ben is ordered to shoot the first person who comes in the room ...The Dumb Waiter premiered Frankfurt's Kleines Haus in 1959.Nobel-prize winner Harold Pinter was one of the most influential playwrights of modern times. He died in 2008.