By Nigel Powlson

FOR half a century Harold Pinter was one of the most revered playwrights in the country, crafting a string of pieces that have become theatrical classics and which earned him a Nobel Prize for Literature.

His influential style has been much copied and has even earned him place in the Oxford English dictionary – "Pinteresque".

Derby Live's first homegrown production of the 2010 gives us snapshot of Pinter by eschewing his most celebrated works (The Homecoming The Birthday Part) in favour of combining two infrequently performed short plays.

The Dumb Waiter occupies the first half of the evening and is indeed very Pinteresque – the dialogue, mixing comedy and a threat of violence, more important than the plot.

Despite being written 50 years ago, this tale of two 1950s hitmen in a basement waiting for instructions is strikingly modern, as if Tarantino had written a period piece.

Joe Tucker and James Holmes are the sparring partners, arguing over whether you "light the gas" or "light the kettle" – Tucker becoming increasingly irritated, Holmes ever edgier.

You can see how the play inspired the recent film In Bruges.

After the interval we move on to A Kind of Alaska, written by Pinter in his "memory play phase in 1982 and originally starring Judi Dench as Deborah, who awakes from a coma after 29 years.

It was inspired by the same book as the Robert De Niro film Awakenings.

Here Julia Tarnoky has the difficult job of playing a middle aged woman whose mind is still locked in adolescence.

Director Esther Richardson invites us to compare and contrast by offering both plays on the same white bricked set and explaining in the programme how both are about language.

In truth they still seem very different animals and there's a slight jarring after the interval until we settle into the new dynamic.

There's also an overall sense that we have enjoyed two tasty appetisers but missed out on a main course. But it's good to see Derby Live tackling a "difficult" playwright its own way.

And although Pinter died in 2008, there's more than enough proof here that his work is still very much alive.

A PAIR OF PINTERS

WHERE: Derby Guildhall.

WHEN: Until February 27.

TICKETS: From £8.

BOX OFFICE: 01332 255800.