Short Review: The Collection

Nobel-prize-winning British playwright Harold Pinter’s The Collection (1961) is a marvelous one-act from pre-psychedelic London, bearing his characteristic hallmarks. An anonymous 4 a.m. phone call launches absurd situations with menacing, jealous implications involving two couples (one gay, one straight) discussing an out-of-town encounter. It quickly becomes tricky determining who’s telling the truth (and when), and who’s slept with whom. This small, thoughtful production is both comical and sinister. Fri 8:30pm; Sat 8:30pm; Fri 3/9 9pm. Through 3/9. $15; Art Theater of Davis, at Davis Arts Center, 1919 F St. in Davis; www.arttheater.org.