Pinter Distilled!

Many years ago I was on a major Harold Pinter kick. I didn't just read, but "absorbed," many of his plays. Over the years, I have seen some great productions of his work, but it was the reading of the text that consumed me, inspired me, fired me up.

Funny. Confounding. Disturbing. Mystifying.

One of his later works is called "Ashes to Ashes." A play he wrote in 1996. "Later Pinter." It is Pinter distilled. Not a wasted word.

There is a shimmering, dazzling production of this play running in Chicago right now at the Intuit Gallery, by the 2 person collective Citizens Relief. Two actors doing the best work imaginable. Perfectly realized. Perfectly embodied. Every word, every gesture, essential.

A tiny corner of the gallery serves as the claustrophobic living room. You are sucked into the vortex of Pinter. Simone Jubyna and Mike Driscoll sink into these characters, transform themselves. 

The play flies by. It works it's way into your being. It's a fever dream, a homemade hallucination. A fascinating human combat. 

I left thinking this might be Pinter at his best. No fat. Every word, every gesture, knife-edge hard and revealing. Citizen's Relief will transform you. Highly recommended.