The Dumb Waiter at DC Arts Center

A stark and windowless basement finds Gus and Ben, two assassins for hire, awaiting instructions from their superiors on their next victim. The two men, one the senior and the other the junior partner, know each other well enough to remain civil even as they needle one another with the most innocuous words and actions. The boredom and tension between the two are broken by an inexplicable series of messages arriving from a dumbwaiter demanding plates of food, ranging from the ordinary to the exotic. The mystery sparks them to questions and paranoia about their situation, their boss, and the lives they live. Often compared to the absurd plays of Samuel Beckett, the play is tragic and comic by turns, as the two delve into their deepest fears about authority and obedience.