The Caretaker

The Caretaker
First edition cover of The Caretaker, 1960
Written by	Harold Pinter
Characters	Mick, a man in his late twenties Aston, a man in his early thirties Davies, an old man
Date premiered	27 April 1960
Place premiered	Arts Theatre Westminster, London
Original language	English
Setting	A house in West London. Winter.

The Caretaker is a drama in three acts by Harold Pinter. Although it was the sixth of his major works for stage and television, this psychological study of the confluence of power, allegiance, innocence, and corruption among two brothers and a tramp, became Pinter's first significant commercial success.^[1][2] It premiered at the Arts Theatre Club in London's West End on 27 April 1960 and transferred to the Duchess Theatre the following month, where it ran for 444 performances before departing London for Broadway.^[2] In 1963, a film version of the play based on Pinter's unpublished screenplay was directed by Clive Donner. The movie starred Alan Bates as Mick and Donald Pleasence as Davies in their original stage roles, while Robert Shaw replaced Peter Woodthorpe as Aston. First published by both Encore Publishing and Eyre Methuen in 1960, The Caretaker remains one of Pinter's most celebrated and oft-performed plays.