�Two of Harold Pinter’s black comedies are set to go on stage in Chelmsford. The European Arts Company will be performing The Dumb Waiter and The Lover at the Cramphorn Theatre in Fairfield Road on Wednesday May 16.

In The Dumb Waiter, two hit-men, Ben and Gus, are waiting in a basement room to do a job. Strange messages keep appearing via a serving hatch. Who are they from? Why are they waiting? And who is their next victim?

Comedy and menace collide seamlessly in this classic Pinter one-act play from 1960.

Revived in 2007 at Trafalgar Studios, the play famously starred Essex born comedian Lee Evans and Jason Isaacs who plays the villain Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films.

This production is an authentic reenactment and offers marvellous opportunity for audiences to watch some classic theatre in an intimate setting.

In The Lover, Richard and Sarah have been married for 10 years.

Every morning he commutes into the City to pour over balance sheets and graphs while she shows her lover the hollyhocks.

Everything is not quite as it seems as fantasy and reality converge to dizzying effect.

As with many of Pinter’s plays, The Lover has both “serious” and “comic” interpretations and has been staged successfully both as an ironic comedy on the one hand and as a nervy drama on the other.

As is often the case with Pinter, the play probably contains both. What will your interpretation be?

These witty dramas by the Nobel prize-winner and one of the most influential modern British dramatists still pack the same punch as when first written.

Thrillingly powerful with an air of mystery, they will keep you on the edge of your seat. Tickets are �12, concessions �10 from 01245 606505.