written by Elisabetta on 25/02/2009
Good Points
It's short - consisting of only 3 Acts
Unforgettable
Unique
General Comments
There's virtually no plot whatsoever, if you like plays that are full of intriguing, interesting, and vibrant characters then turn away now! There are no great scenes of any real intensity or rapture, Harold Pinter keeps the reader in a torturous state of frustration and expectancy, throughout the play you are waiting for the explosion, the big event! Fireworks to fly! - Stop hoping or expecting before you've even picked the play up, I assure you it's not going to happen.
Harold Pinters' The Caretaker is entirely based on three mundane characters, of which it is very difficult to build any emotional attachment to, other than intense in particularly Davis'case, revulsion.
It relies heavily on 'significant' inanimate objects to express the plays themes, and the supposed 'brutally funny' (Sunday times) humour - don't get me started, one suggests they mistook exasperation for humour, suggest urgent correction
'Spiritual shocker' - (Sunday Times) I couldn't have been more shocked if all the characters had suddenly burst into song - it truly is the most tiresome, mundane, tedious, infuriating and irksome play I have ever had the misfortune to read, it is the worst play I have had to read, I'm currently studying it for A-level, and have come convinced there is only one place for it - the bonfire!