The Dumb Waiter employs several dramatic devices common to the Theater of the Absurd. The audience is brought into the play seemingly in medias res, a position Aristotle found appropriate only for the epic. The opening has no traditional exposition. The two characters onstage remain a mystery, and no introduction to the plot is given. The audience must grope for literal as well as allegorical meaning. In the play, Pinter even withholds conversation for an inordinate length of time, as Gus ties and unties his shoes, removing things from them.
In keeping the audience uninformed, Pinter increases tension. He unfolds information sparingly, keeping the focus on the superficial level of the comic plot, building suspense out of inanity. The argument over “put the kettle on” or “boil the kettle” may be silly, but the audience senses a threat of violence as Ben and Gus argue. With each release in laughter, the tension only grows, as the underlying terror becomes more apparent. No real surprise should result when these two characters are revealed as murderers.
The dumbwaiter’s intrusion from above into the comic chaos below further intensifies the uneasiness provoked by the play’s enigmatic action. The machine, too, is dichotomous. It possesses comic creakiness, makes comic demands, and allows comic confrontation; at the same time, it is a device that menaces, as it suddenly injects itself into the action, permanently altering the...