Hampstead Theatre has today announced that it will be re-opening its doors next month for a limited period, staging Alice Hamilton’s 60th Anniversary production of Harold Pinter’s The Dumb Waiter.

The Dumb Waiter first played at the Hampstead Theatre premiere season in 1960, directed by the venue’s founder James Roose-Evans. The show is scheduled to run from 18 November to 19 December 2020 with a socially distanced audience, implementing stringent Covid-secure measures. These measures will be supported by the theatre’s state-of-the-art ventilation system, which changes air in the auditorium and foyer with 100% fresh air introduced from outdoors every 4 minutes and 45 seconds.

Artistic Director of Hampstead Theatre, Roxana Silbert, said: “I am so delighted to be able to share this news today. As Hampstead Theatre, along with our colleagues in live performance, start to find our feet in this ‘new normal’, we are very excited to be able to present Alice Hamilton’s 60th anniversary production of The Dumb Waiter.

“When we closed the building on 16 March, the set was on the stage and the show was about to open. At that point, we could not have envisaged how Pinter’s brilliant play of two men stuck in a room – their sharp humour, ennui, tensions – would come to feel so extraordinarily fresh and resonant.

“We are thrilled at the prospect of welcoming our artists and audiences back into the building and galvanised by the prospect of sharing the communal experience which is unique to live theatre.”

The show is directed by Alice Hamilton with design by James Perkins, lighting by James Whiteside and composition and sound by Giles Thomas.

The theatre will re-open with 193 socially distanced seats and seating will be arranged to ensure that there is at least 1 metre plus between seats. In the event that The Dumb Waiter needs to be postponed, full refunds or credit vouchers will be offered. Tickets will go on sale on Wednesday 14 October at 10am.

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