By Steve Krutzler / 08:42, 10 November 2003 / People

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STAR TREK star Patrick Stewart debuted to mixed reviews in a new production of THE CARETAKER on Broadway last night at the American Airlines theater. The play by Harold Pinter explores the relationship of a vagabond (Stewart) with two well-to-do brothers who hold the tramp's prospects at their very whim.

Elysa Gardener at USA Today awards the show 3/4 stars and credits the performances with keeping Pinter's message meaningful: "Davies is a tricky character, one who inspires our pity and grudging admiration even as his capacity for deception and cruelty becomes increasingly apparent. Perhaps it's the unappetizing look of his surroundings, but Stewart shows none of his usual proclivity for scenery chewing; his nuanced portrait never reduces Davies to the cartoon character he could easily become in less capable hands."

Writing for the Associated Press, Michael Kuchwara calls Stewart's performance "genial" and out of place, however: "Stewart mines the play for laughs, which is OK, but then fails to tap into the nastiness and eventual desperation that should drive his character."

The AP concludes that the play's set design does a much better job at conveying the hopelessness of the story: "John Lee Beatty's remarkably cluttered attic set, a gloomy, junk-filled room, goes a long way toward suggesting a disturbing environment. It has a sense of foreboding that the rest of this production of THE CARETAKER lacks."

Ben Brantley of the New York Times agrees, writing, "As Davies, Mr. Stewart plays Pinter as if it were Dickens. He's a grand old bum, as seigneurial in Aston's digs as, in Dickens, Little Dorrit's snobbish jailbird of a father. The geriatric mannerisms -- the tremor in the voice, the shortness of breath -- seem affected, as if he might throw them off any second, like the oddly biblical-looking coat he wears for his entrance."

The Time feels Stewart never fully sells the role: "While he rises to flashes of scorching malice in the third act, he's basically a straight man for the brothers. And you never think -- as you must -- that Davies is ever in control."

Charles Greenwood of Daily Variety (subscription) echoes similar criticisms: "The menace has gone missing in the Roundabout Theater Co.'s revival of Harold Pinter's THE CARETAKER. Suspense takes a holiday, too, in David Jones' oddly cozy and ultimately wan staging of a play that should positively ooze unease..."

The Newark Star Ledger says the play, which originally debuted over forty years ago, doesn't appeal to the modern audience and describes this production as a "yawn": "Director David Jones' plodding staging takes well over two hours to relate this scenario, and the tedium grows like moss. A greater sense of potential danger -- or at least some sort of suspense -- is required to maintain one's interest in these people mired in their various hazy illusions... Stewart portrays Davies as a spry old coot, the resonant grandeur of his melodious voice suggesting that the character really might have been someone of substance."

Clive Barnes at the New York Post enjoyed the play, however, praising Stewart's performance: "Stewart, shifty and arrogant by turn, proves splendidly braggart as the drifter Davies, wonderfully uncertain of the ground he's spitting on."

THE CARETAKER is currently playing at the American Airlines Theater at 227 West 42nd Street through January 4th. Visit the Roundabout Theatre Company for showtimes and ticket info.