A Slight Ache is presented by Dance On Productions in association with Linda Toliver and Gary Guidinger. Written by Harold Pinter. Directed by Jack Heller.

An apparent peaceful morning is disrupted by a wasp and a match seller. Flora (Susan Priver, Harold and Maude) is sitting with her husband Edward (Henry Olek) when a wasp decides to approach their table while they’re breakfasting in the garden. The dynamics of their relationship becomes more evident as they try to figure out how to get rid of the insect. But Edward’s biggest concern is not the wasp. Rather, it’s the disconcerting presence of an old match seller (Shelly Kurtz) who has been loitering by the gate of their home for days. Flora and Edward decide to invite the man into their home to find out who he really is.

One of most iconic elements of this play is the speechless nature of the match seller. He doesn’t utter a single world during the whole play. Yet, like in music, in Harold Pinter‘s plays, silence is as important as dialogue. In this absurdist piece, the match seller reflects not a character, but an image, an inner fear or an aspirational idea of a man, depending on who you ask. For Edward, the match seller is the unstoppable marching of time, the reflection of what Edward will become in just a few more years. Edward knows that his body is deteriorating, turning him into a frail remnant of what he once was. He is holding on for dear life to what he believes will sustain him through the dreadful ageing process, his mental capacities, as if detaching his mind from his decaying body. Edward went from writing about “the Belgian Congo” to a more philosophical and contemplative topic; he’s now writing an essay on “space and time”. This is probably a symbol of inwardness, an unconscious attempt to find the meaning of life at the last stages of his existence. 

Flora sees the match seller as the man Edward could have been. In Pinter’s style, the speechless man is used as an instrument to allow the exposition of the other characters. In one of the scenes, Flora tells the match seller of the time she was raped. She also tries to explore the possibilities of the match seller as a companion, expressing her sexual frustrations and implying the lack of sexual activity with Edward. These are examples of Pinter’s use of the absurd to portray not just characters, but concepts that reflected the lives of the English society in a time of rapid changes, specially the representation of classes when England was recuperating from the difficult economic misfortunes of previous decades. 

One of the highlights of Jack Heller‘s production is the collaboration with his actors to work from an internal approach, exploring the richly psychological aspects of this brilliant play. The actors dig deep into the fears, desires, and frustrations of the characters to bring a refreshing new look at one of Pinter’s earlier plays, one that delves into the often complex relationships among mind, body, and society at large. Even though Pinter wrote A Slight Ache in 1958 at a specific period in England, the fears of becoming irrelevant and the painful process of aging are topics that are timeless and universal.

In addition to the excellent acting and directing, the scenic design (Jeff G. Rack) and costumes (Michael Mullen) combine in great detail the past and the present. Flora and Edward sport a refined look in their privileged 50s home setting while the match seller wears clothes that remind us of the very familiar sight in our streets nowadays. A clever commentary on classes back in Pinter’s England and a contrast that persists in our America today.

A Slight Ache

A visiting production at the
Odyssey Theatre
2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90025 

Performances: August 26 – October 1
• Thursdays at 8 p.m.: Sept. 14; Sept. 21; Sept. 28
• Fridays at 8 p.m.: Sept. 8; Sept. 15; Sept. 22; Sept. 29
• Saturdays at 8 p.m.: Aug. 26 (opening); Sept. 9; Sept. 16; Sept. 23; Sept. 30
• Sundays at 2 p.m.: Sept. 10; Sept. 17; Sept. 24; Oct. 1

Tickets: odysseytheatre.com

Written by Harold Pinter. Directed by Jack Heller. Starring Shelly Kurtz, Henry Olek, Susan Priver. Presented by Dance On Productions in association with Linda Toliver and Gary Guidinger. Creative team: Scenic designer Jeff G. Rack, lighting designer Ellen Monocroussos, sound designer Christopher Moscatiello, costume designer Michael Mullen and graphic designer Kiff Scholl. The production stage manager is Sarah Dawn Lowry.