With its enigmatic dialogue, unrevealed motives, and powerful suggestions of menace, the play is now considered one of Pinter’s best and most characteristic works.

The story focuses on Stanley Webber who is the only resident at the boarding house run by Meg and Petey. One day they are visited by two sinister strangers, Nat Goldberg and Seamus McCann, who tell Meg that it is Stanley’s birthday. They present him with a toy drum which he beats wildly. Stanley, who fears the two men, tries to convince them that he is someone else. Later that evening, they remove his glasses, harshly question him, and make him participate in a game of blind man’s buff. The next morning, the men take a confused Stanley away. Petey watches them go, and later tells Meg what a fantastic birthday party it has been.