Characterized by its dark, absurdist humor, and the underlying sense of unease and anxiety that permeates the narrative, Harold Pinter's 1957 The Room is considered an early example of a "comedy of menace" play. Emerging in mid-20th century Britain, this genre is a style of comedy that uses humor to explore darker themes and evoke a sense of unease and discomfort.
A play-on-words derived from the Restoration-era comedy of manners, the term comedy of menace was first used by British playwright David Campton in the title of his play The Lunatic View: A Comedy of Menace. Writing in Encore magazine in 1958, drama critic Irving Wardle used the term when reviewing the work of Campton and Pinter. Wardle saw these men as exemplary of a new wave of playwrights who focused on the darker aspects of human nature. While Wardle said in 1960 that he "rashly applied" the comedy of menace label to Pinter's work and wished to "take it back," many critics still find the term useful when discussing Pinter's early work and its legacy. These plays and films are characterized by their juxtaposition of black humor and characters who are trapped in seemingly hopeless situations. In a comedy of menace, humor can be used not to distract from but to explore serious and disturbing themes, including loneliness, isolation, and alienation.
The humor in these works often arises from the absurdity of the situations that characters find themselves in, as well as their inability to effectively communicate with each other. Meanwhile, a building sense of menace or threat creates tension and suspense in the narrative. The sense of menace can emerge from a variety of sources, including the environment, other characters, or a character's own psychological state. The audience is often left uncertain about what will happen next or why something has happened, challenging them to confront uncomfortable truths as they try to make sense of absurd scenarios.
