When one thinks of Harold Pinter, it's of dark drama, deadpan deliveries, and deceptively mundane dialogue. Everything is careful, studied, and booby-trapped. He achieved international success as one of the most complex post-World War II dramatists. Pinter's plays are noted for their use of silence to increase tension, understatement, and cryptic small talk. Equally recognizable are "Pinteresque" themes - nameless menace, erotic fantasy, obsession and jealousy, family hatred and mental disturbance. Tim Butterfield is helming one of Pinter's earliest scripts, The HotHouse for the daring Nearly Naked Theatre. This was Pinter's second script, written in 1958 just before his breakthrough The Birthday Party, though not given its first production until 1980. While those trademark themes are already in evidence, Mr. Butterfield has cast aside orthodox presentation style for a low-comedy slapstick styling that at first blush seems wildly inappropriate for a Pinter play. Give it time, though, and you'll find that Mr. Butterfield has hit on something here. As this is a youthful Pinter exploring his future obsessive themes, shotgun vocalization, broad expressions, burlesque makeup (Terre Steed), and comedic characterization enhance the enjoyment of the evening, even as they somewhat undercut the subtlety of the writing.

The play is set in Britain in a mid-20th century Ministry-run mental hospital, where bureaucracy and social stratification are all that are keeping the inmates in place. The only difference between the mad and their keepers are numbers versus names. There are unexplained pregnancies and mysterious deaths among the patients, class struggles between the understaff and administration, jockeying for favor between underlings and Roote, the Director of the Hospital, and sexual tension between the sole woman, Cutts, and pretty much every man in the place.

Mr. Butterfield takes risks, makes broad choices, and has collected an excellent cast for the show. By choosing to give a bit of a Monty Python feel to the proceedings, he has guaranteed that the coded small talk is played much funnier. Of course, one of the reasons for the set way of presenting Pinter is because it gives the audience a chance to delve into the depths of Pinter's dialogue and themes. By having the cast rat-a-tat their line deliveries, the audience doesn't have long to savor the ironies of the chit-chat. While I personally lament passing on some of that depth for comedy, ultimately the tradeoff of a spry evening versus an intellectual spelunking adventure has its own strengths. In making the choice to go in this direction, Mr. Butterfield is very successful.

The trio that carries this production, Patrick Du Laney, Tim Shawver and Christopher Mascarelli are comfortable in their odd characters. Mr. Du Laney dives into the stuffy Roote with abandon, creating a strangled paranoia that sets the tone of the play. Mr. Shawver is in his element, as his assistant Gibbs is the type of character that fits well with his style: intense yet flip. His subserviently sneaky ways with Roote, and his ongoing battle with Mr. Mascarelli's ominous character, Lush, are played with equal aplomb. As Lush, Mr. Mascarelli is completely enveloped in his character's simmering hatred. The tension that he imbues into his character follows him onstage like a shadow.

Jason Barth leads the remainder of the ensemble with his dual presentations as the innocent underling, Lamb, and the exasperated understaff representative, Tubb. His frenetic Lamb is over the top, and heartbreaking in his naïveté. Tubb's barely concealed insolence is a great contrast and offers Mr. Barth the chance to showcase his acting breadth. As the only woman on the staff of this madhouse, Andi Watson's Cutts is a lip-licking harlot whose only power lays in her unrestrained sexuality. It is this character that is undercut most by Mr. Butterfield's broadening. When engaging in sexual antics, Cutts becomes a burlesque show. Ms. Watson is only able to reveal depth in her character in the second-to-last scene, when her interaction with Roote allows her a sympathetic moment.

Mr. Butterfield's set is a multi-level affair that creates many interesting playing spaces, including allowing for the originally offstage interaction between Gibbs and Cutts during the "interrogation" of Lamb to be seen, resulting in a hilarious visual. Joseph Benesh's lighting is effective for the small space, and Jay Templeton's costumes work well. Marc Pacheco's sound design is incomplete, utilizing music early at one point but never continuing the idea once established.

This production takes risks and tries to find a new type of entertainment in Pinter. The full house on Saturday night obviously enjoyed the results. I'm glad that NNT has dared to present Pinter. Despite my seeming intellectual snootiness, I must admit that I, too, enjoyed their offering. It's impressive when a group can find a way to give a fresh interpretation to an established playwright.

Production Details:
The HotHouse by Harold Pinter
Nearly Naked Theatre
The Little Theatre at Phoenix Theatre (For a map to location, click this link)
(602) 274-2432
June 7th - 23rd, 2002

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