One of Pinter’s lesser known plays, A Slight Ache has all the tension and long pauses you’d expect, but also a neat streak of dark surrealism. It’s the story of a middle class couple whose quietly unhappy marriage disintegrates when they’re visited by a mute vagrant. Comedian Thom Tuck does well as the paranoid and bombastic husband, while Catriona Knox is excellent as his politely seething wife. Their interplay is deliciously snappy, never missing an opportunity for humour in the sometimes unwieldy text. Less attention has been paid to the design, with flickering lights and half-hearted costumes contradicting the dialogue and only confusing matters. Fortunately this doesn’t detract too much from the steadily increasing pressure in this quality character piece.

Pleasance Courtyard, until 25 Aug.
tw rating 4/5 | [Dave Fargnoli]