''Tea Party'' is a

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

written by

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A List of Nobel laureates in Literature, Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramat ...

, which Pinter adapted from his own 1963 short story of the same title.''Plays: Three'' and ''Complete Works: Three'' 241–47. Subsequent references to these editions and to Pinter's official Website appear in parentheses in the text.The short story "Tea Party" is also published in ''Various Voices'' 94–98. As a

screenplay A screenplay, or script, is a written work produced for a film, television show (also known as a '' teleplay''), or video game by screenwriters (cf. ''stage play''). Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of w ...

, it was commissioned by the

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, directed by

Charles Jarrott Charles Jarrott (16 June 19274 March 2011) was a British film and television director. He was best known for costume dramas he directed for producer Hal B. Wallis, among them '' Anne of the Thousand Days'', which earned him a Golden Globe for B ...

, and first transmitted on

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...

in the programme ''The Largest Theatre in the World'' on 25 March 1965 (''Complete Works: Three'' 100).See also: Pinter, ''The Lover, Tea Party, The Basement'' 42. It was first produced on stage in October 1968 as part of a double bill with Pinter's play '' The Basement''.Quoted i
"Synopsis"
for ''Tea Party'', in "Harold Pinter (1930–2008)".

Synopsis

''Tea Party'' "revolves around a family engaged in a business of sanitary engineering."Back cover, ''The Lover, Tea Party, The Basement''. According to an account published in the ''

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'', the play concerns "a middle-aged self-made business man named Sisson" (whom Pinter later renamed Disson), who engages a young secretary, marries a beautiful young second wife, and takes his new brother-in-law into his business–all in the same day";

Mysteries abound. What is going on between the wife and her brother? Are they indeed brother and sister? Sisson has his doubts about that … . Why does Sisson feel that there must be something wrong with his eyes, although he knows that he can see clearly and his eye doctor has assured him that his vision is perfect? He forces his secretary to tie a chiffon scarf over his eyes, and then he is able to make a pass at her, in response to one of her many come-ons. Ordinary events assume a sinister tinge. Sisson's two sons, giving him the deadpan treatment that little boys have been inflicting on their elders from time immemorial, seem as eerie as characters out of a ghost story. Always the questions remain. Is there a conspiracy against Sisson.

Setting

"''A modern office in London''".''Tea Party and The Basement'' n. pag.

Original cast of BBC TV production

As listed in the published texts, the original cast of the BBC TV production transmitted on 25 March 1965 was: The set was designed by Eileen Diss.

Stage production

''Tea Party'' was produced as part of a double bill with ''The Basement'' at the Eastside Playhouse in New York, directed by James Hammerstein, in October 1968, with the following cast: Scenery was by Ed Wittstein, lighting by Neil Peter Jampolis, and costumes by Deidre Cartier."Tea Party (in double bill with The Basement) Eastside Playhouse, New York, October 1968"
in "Tea Party", ''HaroldPinter.org''. ''Tea Party'' opened at the Duchess Theatre on 17 September 1970, also directed by James Hammerstein and produced by Eddie Kulukundis for Knightsbridge Theatrical Productions Ltd, with the following cast" (''Complete Works: Three'' 101):

Notes

Works cited

"Harold Pinter (1930–2008)
. '' Doollee.com: The Playwrights Database'', (last updated) 23 Feb. 2009.

Web Web most often refers to: * Spider web, a silken structure created by the animal * World Wide Web or the Web, an Internet-based hypertext system Web, WEB, or the Web may also refer to: Computing * WEB, a literate programming system created by ...

. 23 Feb. 2009. * Pinter, Harold. ''Complete Works: Three''. New York:

Grove Press Grove Press is an American publishing imprint that was founded in 1947. Imprints include: Black Cat, Evergreen, Venus Library, and Zebra. Barney Rosset purchased the company in 1951 and turned it into an alternative book press in the United S ...

, 1978. . [Contents: ''The Homecoming'', ''Tea Party'', ''The Basement'', ''Landscape'', ''Silence'', Revue Sketches: "Night", "That's Your Trouble", "That's All", "Applicant", "Interview", "Dialogue for Three", "''With the Memoir'', 'Mac', ''and the short story'', 'Tea Party' ".] *–––. ''The Lover, Tea Party, The Basement: Two Plays and a Film Script''. New York:

, 1967. . *–––. ''Plays Three''. Expanded edn., Contemporary Classics series. London:

Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, commonly known as Faber & Faber or simply Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, C. S. Lewis, Margaret S ...

, 1997. . [Contents: ''The Homecoming'', ''Tea Party'', ''The Basement'', ''Landscape'', ''Silence'', "Night", "That's Your Trouble", "That's All", "Applicant", "Interview", "Dialogue for Three", "Tea Party" (short story), ''Old Times'', ''No Man's Land''.] *–––. ''Tea Party and The Basement: Two Plays by Harold Pinter''. Acting edn., first publ. 1969. New York: Dramatists Play Service, Inc., 1998. . *–––. ''Various Voices: Prose, Poetry, Politics: 1948–2005''. London:

, 2005. .

External links

Harold Pinter's reading of his short story "Tea Party"
(and selected poems and other stories) – At the

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on 12 November 1964, hyperlinked in "92Y Podcast: Remembering Harold Pinter, British Playwright", 25 December 2008 (

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; 65:41).
''Tea Party''
– In ''HaroldPinter.org: Official Website of the International Playwright Harold Pinter'' ("Plays"). {{DEFAULTSORT:Tea Party (Play) Plays by Harold Pinter 1965 plays Methuen Publishing books