A Slight Ache

A Slight Ache is a tragicomic play written by Harold Pinter in 1958 and first published by Methuen in London in 1961.

It concerns a married couple's dreams and desires, focusing mostly on the husband's fears of the unknown, of growing old, and of the "Other" as a threat to his self-identity.

A Slight Ache premièred as a radio broadcast in 1959, prior to its first stage production.

On radio, because the Matchseller does not speak in the play, he appeared to its audience to be a figment of Edward's imagination.

In 2008 it was performed at the National Theatre, starring Simon Russell Beale and Clare Higgins, and directed by Iqbal Khan.