It’s quite a wrench on a stormy night leaving the warm telly to see live productions but we theatre lovers are a hardy breed. So I braved the elements and went along to the first night of the Rep’s new play The Dishwashers starring David Essex, and am I glad I did.
In the bowels of a glamorous restaurant three men do the washing up. They do not create the sumptuous dishes served high above them nor serve them to the pampered customers – they just wash the plates. Moss (the marvellously aged Andrew Jarvis ) is so old he can remember no other life, Emmett, (the impassioned Rik Makarem) comes to be broken in as a new hand, while Dressler, subtly underplayed by David Essex, has seen his youth slip away while dishwashing, yet is philosophical. A job, after all, is a job. “Life gives us a dirty plate,” he says, “and we have to clean it.”
The action of the play is deceptively simple. Young Emmett has come down in the world – he was once a rich customer in this same restaurant who gave no thought to the servant/master aspects of fine dining. But as a skivvy he becomes politicised and wants a full-on strike, or at a least a paper towel dispenser that actually works. Without giving away a twist that makes this play truly great I can’t say any more except that it has a pedigree which links it to the greatest of all dramas. Waiting For Godot, and more surprisingly Dr. Faustus spring to mind, but it wears its lineage lightly; there is plenty of laughter too.
This UK premiere of The Dishwashers showcases a modern masterpiece, played here to deeply moving effect. I say don’t miss it.
The Dishwashers runs until February 15. For tickets go visit birmingham-rep.co.uk or phone the box office on 0121 236 4455.
