Premiere
On 27 April 1960, the first production of The Caretaker opened at the Arts Theatre, in London, prior to transferring to the West End's Duchess Theatre on 30 May 1960. It starred Donald Pleasence as Davies, Alan Bates as Mick, and Peter Woodthorpe as Aston. The productions received generally strong reviews.[7]
Other notable productions and major revivals
- 1961 – Lyceum Theatre, New York City, on 4 October 1961 by Roger L. Stevens, Frederick Brisson, and Gilbert Miller. Directed by Donald McWhinnie. Setting: Bert Currah, Sets Supervised and lighting: Paul Morrison, Production Supervisor: Fred Herbert, Stage Manager/Understudy: Joel Fabiani[8][9]
- Cast: Alan Bates (Mick), Donald Pleasence (Davies), and Robert Shaw (Aston).
- 1972 – Residenz Theatre, Munich directed by August Everding
- Cast: Heinz Rühmann (Davies), Gerd Baltus (Aston) and Michael Schwarzmaier (Mick)
- 1976 – Virginia Museum Theater (VMT), directed by James Kirkland. Part of the mission of the Virginia Museum at the time was to disseminate the arts, including drama, widely to the people of Virginia. In this regard, it is noteworthy that this was the second Pinter play to be produced by VMT, showing the increasing popularity of his works. This production followed the company's statewide tour of The Homecoming two years previously.[10]
- 1981 – Royal National Theatre. Directed by Kenneth Ives.
- Cast: Jonathan Pryce, Kenneth Cranham, and Warren Mitchell
- 1983 – Royal Exchange, Manchester directed by Richard Negri
- Cast: Charlie Drake (Davies), Jonathan Hackett (Aston) and Tim McInnerny (Mick). Michael Angelis also played one of the two brothers.
- 1990 – Sherman Theatre, Cardiff (24 October – 10 November)
- Cast: Miriam Karlin played Davies – the first time a woman performed the title role – with Mark Lewis Jones (Aston) and Gary Lilburn (Mick). Directed by Annie Castledine.
- 1991 – Comedy Theatre, London. Directed by Harold Pinter.
- Cast: Donald Pleasence, Peter Howitt and Colin Firth
- 1993 – The Studio Theatre, Washington, D.C. (12 September – 24 October)
- Cast: Emery Battis, Richard Thompson, John Tindle.[11]
- 2000 – Comedy Theatre, London, November 2000 – February 2001. Directed by Patrick Marber. Designer, Rob Howell; lighting, Hugh Vanstone; sound, Simon Baker (for Autograph Sound). Associate Director, Gari Jones
- Cast: Michael Gambon (Davies), Rupert Graves (Mick), and Douglas Hodge (Aston)
- 2003 – Roundabout Theatre Company, New York City. Directed by David Jones. Set design: John Beatty, Costume design: Jane Greenwood, Lighting: Peter Lezorowski. Design: Scott Lehrer.
- Cast: Patrick Stewart (Davies), Aidan Gillen (Mick), and Kyle MacLachlan (Aston).
- 2005 – Zephyr Theatre. Los Angeles. Directed by Matt Gottlieb.
- Cast Robert Mandan (Davies), Steve Spiro (Mick) and Jaxon Duff Gwillim (Aston).
- 2006 – Sheffield Theatres, part of UK tour in 2006–2007 season. Directed by Jamie Lloyd.
- Cast Nigel Harman, David Bradley, and Con O'Neill.[12][13]
- 2006–2007 – "Le gardien". Théâtre de l'Oeuvre. Transferred to the Théâtre de Paris. Directed by Didier Long.
- Cast: Robert Hirsch, Samuel Labarthe and Cyrille Thouvenin.
- 2007 – The English Theatre of Hamburg. Directed by Clifford Dean.
- Cast: Hayward Morse, Steven Lello, and Scott Smith.
- 2008 – Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis. Directed by Benjamin McGovern.
- Cast: Stephen Cartmell, Steven Epp, and Kris L. Nelson.
- 2009 – Everyman Theatre, Liverpool. Directed by Christopher Morahan.
- Cast: Jonathan Pryce (Davies), Peter McDonald (Aston), Tom Brooke (Mick).
- 2010 – London Classic Theatre (touring production). Directed by Michael Cabot.
- Cast: Nicholas Gadd, Nicholas Gasson, and Richard Stemp.
- 2011 – Writers' Theatre, Glencoe, Illinois. Directed by Ron OJ Parson.
- Cast: Kareem Bandealy, Anish Jethmalani and Bill Norris.
- Broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 2:30PM Sat, 27 November 2010, repeated 2:30PM Sat, 28 April 2012: Davies read by David Warner, Aston by Tony Bell and Mick by Daniel Mays, directed by Peter Kavanagh.[14]
- 2016 – The Old Vic Theatre, London. Directed by Matthew Warchus.
- Cast: Timothy Spall, Daniel Mays, and George MacKay.
- 2017 – Bristol Old Vic, Bristol. Directed by Christopher Haydon.
- Cast: Patrice Naiambana, David Judge, Jonathan Livingstone.[15]
