The Caretaker

Evening Standard (11Jan01): Sir [Michael Gambon], face smeared with too much dirt, hair in whispy, grease-ridden tufts, eyes hooded against intrusive glances, totters on in a nervy shuffle. His tattered clothes look as if stuck to his grimy flesh. [Rob Howell]'s terrific set, with gloomy piles of junk , crumbling walls and roof, perfectly matches the Gambon tramp. Is it imagination you can almost smell him from the the stalls? This cunning old vagrant, who not only looks a gift horse in the mouth but tries to ride it away as well, intends to secure a foothold in this room. And his pathetic campaign inspires The Caretaker's action. Surprisingly, Sir Michael's flamboyant performance, despite its virtuoso comic pleasures, rings untrue. It's taken at far too loud and extravagant a pitch from the start and never lets up, while his accent crisscrosses from Wales to the East End. Yet what a wrenching, dark, dramatic comedy [Patrick Marber] and his actors still make of this vintage [Harold Pinter]