HAROLD Pinter’s 1957 absurdist play is a challenging proposition for any theatre group. Noted for surviving a hostile reception when first performed, this was a bold choice for Richmond Amateur Dramatic Society’s autumn show.

The stage set perfectly created the appearance of a rundown seaside boarding house, with a bobble-fringed standard lamp, an oak table with gingham cloth, and a serving hatch through which a box of "vintage" Kellogg’s cornflakes could be seen.

The Georgian’s small stage was given additional depth via a door into a corridor where the spindles of a staircase were visible.

Joy Mills was suitably irritating as odd landlady Meg Boles, whose inane conversation “was it nice?” was equally matched in banality by husband Petey, played by Bruce Cunningham.

The arrival of two sinister dark-suited visitors is the catalyst for the action. While Mike Walker as Mr Goldberg and Dan Cockett as Mr McCann both made credibly ominous characters, their Jewish and Irish accents respectively slipped from time to time.

Chris Wellings captured the ambiguity of the cagey, but fragile long-term resident Stanley Webber for whom the party is thrown, despite his protestations that it’s not his birthday. A young blonde played by Jessica Inglis and a distinctly "mutton-dressed-as-lamb" landlady added sex and drunkenness to the peculiar gathering, while the total blackout during the power cut increased the sense of confusion on stage and off.

If there is one abiding characteristic of this play, it is the claustrophobic sense of invasion and menace it generates. Pinter’s play presents women as simpering idiots, men as violent and humanity as devoid of meaning. RADS production, however, had the majority of the audience finding comedy in the ridiculous and laughing along, even during Webber’s harrowing intimidation. Bizarre and uncomfortable – perhaps just as Pinter hoped.

Christina McIntyre