These two short works by Harold Pinter - one lasting a mere 10 minutes – are neatly dovetailed in Jeff James’ efficient production played out on a stark white set.
In Victoria Station (written in 1982), a minicab controller has a frustratingly off-kilter nighttime dialogue with the distracted and somewhat confused "number 274" in an attempt to get him to pick up a passenger. Kevin Doyle does a nice line in bemusement as the stationary driver, but this short two-hander could be funnier.
In the second, darker and longer One for the Road (1984) the fluorescent lights suddenly blaze in an uncomfortable glare and the power play roles are reversed. Doyle is now Nicolas, a smiling, psychologically coercive interrogator in an unspecified totalitarian state who questions, in turn, Keith Dunphy’s battered Victor, his sexually abused wife and his (as yet untouched) 7 year old son.
It’s a chilling piece, the four brief scenes pulsating with the threat of unseen torture and gratuitous cruelty.
Young Vic, The Cut, SE1 8LZ tube Southwark/Waterloo (youngvic.org) Until October 15. £15.
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