''Pinter's People'' is a compilation of revue sketches or short prose works by
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that span ...
, which was performed for four weeks from 30 January 2007, at the
Haymarket Theatre
The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre on Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in ...
, in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, starring
Bill Bailey
Mark Robert Bailey (born 13 January 1965), known professionally as Bill Bailey, is an English musician, comedian and actor. He is known for his role as Manny in the sitcom '' Black Books'' and his appearances on the panel shows '' Never Mind th ...
,
Geraldine McNulty
Geraldine McNulty is an English stage and television actress.
She has played the character of Mrs Raven in '' My Hero'', and had guest appearances in ''Neverwhere'', '' Gimme Gimme Gimme'', '' The Vicar of Dibley'', ''The Smoking Room'' and '' ...
,
Sally Phillips
Sally Elizabeth Phillips (born 10 May 1970) is an English actress, television presenter, and comedian. She co-created and was one of the writers of the sketch comedy show '' Smack the Pony''. She is also known for her roles in '' Miranda'' as T ...
, and
Kevin Eldon
Kevin Eldon (born 2 October 1959) is an English actor and comedian. He featured in British comedy television shows of the 1990s including ''Fist of Fun'', ''This Morning with Richard Not Judy'', '' Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge'' ...
. The show was assembled by Bailey and directed by
Sean Foley.
It included:
*"
Apart From That" (first performed 2006)
*"
The Black and White" (1959)
*"
Last to Go" (1959)
*"
The New World Order" (1991)
*"
Night
Night (also described as night time, unconventionally spelled as "nite") is the period of ambient darkness from sunset to sunrise during each 24-hour day, when the Sun is below the horizon. The exact time when night begins and ends depends ...
" (1969)
*"
Precisely" (1983)
*"
Press Conference
A press conference or news conference is a media event in which notable individuals or organizations invite journalists to hear them speak and ask questions. Press conferences are often held by politicians, corporations, non-governmental organ ...
" (2002)
*"
Request Stop
In public transport, a request stop, flag stop, or whistle stop is a stop or station at which buses or trains, respectively, stop only on request; that is, only if there are passengers or freight to be picked up or dropped off. In this way, s ...
" (1959)
*"
Special Offer
Sales promotion is one of the elements of the promotional mix. The primary elements in the promotional mix are advertising, personal selling, direct marketing and publicity/ public relations. Sales promotion uses both media and non-media marketi ...
" (1959)
*"
Tess Tess or TESS may refer to:
Music
* Tess (band), a Spanish pop band active from 2000 to 2005
* TESS (musician), a UK musician
Film and theatre
* ''Tess'' (1979 film), a 1979 film adaptation of '' Tess of the d'Urbervilles''
* ''Tess'' (2016 fil ...
" (2000)
*"
That's All" (1959)
*"
That's Your Trouble" (1959)
*"
Trouble in the Works" (1959)
*"
Victoria Station" (1982)
Critical response
The reviews were not good.
Charles Spencer, in ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was f ...
'' described the show as "one of the most punishingly unfunny evenings I have ever endured in a theatre."
In ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
,''
Michael Billington commented, "Pinter’s people have been turned into lurching grotesques and the result does a grave disservice both to the writer and comic acting."
["What the critics are saying about Bill Bailey and co's comedic take on the Nobel laureate's characters. It's not pretty" ] Benedict Nightingale
William Benedict Herbert Nightingale (born 14 May 1939) is a British journalist, formerly a regular theatre critic for ''The Times'' newspaper. He was educated at Charterhouse and Magdalene College, Cambridge. His first published theatre review ...
in ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...
'' wrote: "Last night I was sickened by some of the coarsest performances I have ever seen in a London playhouse", before going on to praise the second half of the show.
["But only in the second half does the cast calm down and let the audience listen, observe, ponder … Victoria Station comes off fine — and Night pretty well too. " ] ''
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...
'' was more favourable however, mentioning "the great pleasures of the evening" and praised the performers.
["Comedian Bill Bailey's brainchild unites a starry cast and 47 years of Pinter sketches to touching, at times hilarious, effect" ]
Pinter himself was quick to defend the cast and the show, saying "I'm all for it. I admire these people in Pinter's People. I really think they're a great bunch - they're so robust and energetic. I think they were terrific."
References
Plays by Harold Pinter
2007 plays
{{2000s-play-stub