In North London, an all-male beehive of inactivity is ruled with a foul mouth and an iron hand by the abusive Max (Paul Rogers) and his brother, the priggish Sam (Cusack). When Max's son Teddy (Jayston) brings wife Ruth (Vivien Merchant) home to meet his family, he gets both more and less than he bargained for.  Ruth's presence exposes a labyrinth of Freudian dread, venal family values, and naked neediness that could only come from the mind of Pinter. Director Peter Hall re-imagines his original Royal Shakespeare Company stage triumph as a bleached, claustrophobic delirium that exploits the jagged tempos and seductive tensions of Pinter's best play as no theater staging could.