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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 spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include '' The Birthday Party'' (1957), '' The Homecoming'' (1964) and '' Betrayal'' (1978), each of which he adapted for the screen. His screenplay adaptations of others' works include '' The Servant'' (1963), '' The Go-Between'' (1971), ''The French Lieutenant's Woman'' (1981), '' The Trial'' (1993) and '' Sleuth'' (2007). He also directed or acted in radio, stage, television and film productions of his own and others' works. Pinter was born and raised in Hackney, east London, and educated at Hackney Downs School. He was a sprinter and a keen cricket player, acting in school plays and writing poetry. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art but did not complete the course. He was fined for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Birthday Party (play)
''The Birthday Party'' (1957) is the first full-length play by Harold Pinter, first published in London by Encore Publishing in 1959. It is one of his best-known and most frequently performed plays. In the setting of a rundown seaside boarding house, a little birthday party is turned into a nightmare when two sinister strangers arrive unexpectedly. The play has been classified as a comedy of menace, characterised by Pinteresque elements such as ambiguous identity, confusions of time and place, and dark political symbolism. Pinter began writing ''The Birthday Party'' in the summer of 1957 while touring in ''Doctor in the House''. He later said: "I remember writing the big interrogation scene in a dressing room in Leicester." Characters * Petey, a man in his sixties * Meg, a woman in her sixties * Stanley, a man in his late thirties * Lulu, a girl in her early twenties * Goldberg, a man in his fifties * McCann, a man of thirty Summary ''The Birthday Party'' is about Stanley W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comedy Of Menace
Comedy of menace is the body of plays written by David Campton, Nigel Dennis, N. F. Simpson, and Harold Pinter. The term was coined by drama critic Irving Wardle, who borrowed it from the subtitle of Campton's play '' The Lunatic View: A Comedy of Menace'', in reviewing Pinter's and Campton's plays in '' Encore'' in 1958. (Campton's subtitle ''Comedy of Menace'' is a jocular play-on-words derived from ''comedy of manners''—''menace'' being ''manners'' pronounced with somewhat of an English accent.)See Merritt 5, 9–10, 225–28, 240, 310, and 326, citing articles by Wardle, Gussow's ''Conversations with Pinter'', and various performance reviews by Wardle, Gussow, and others. Background Citing Wardle's original publications in ''Encore'' magazine (1958), Susan Hollis Merritt points out that in "Comedy of Menace" Wardle "first applies this label to Pinter's work … describ ngPinter as one of 'several playwrights who have been tentatively lumped together as the "non-naturalist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Homecoming
''The Homecoming'' is a two-act play written in 1964 and published in 1965 by Harold Pinter. Its premières in London (1965) and New York (1967) were both directed by Sir Peter Hall. The original Broadway production won the 1967 Tony Award for Best Play. Its 40th-anniversary Broadway production at the Cort Theatre was nominated for a 2008 Tony Award for "Best Revival of a Play". Set in North London, the play has six characters. Five of these are men of the same family: Max, a retired butcher; his brother Sam, a chauffeur; and Max's three sons: Teddy, a philosophy professor in the United States; Lenny, a pimp who only makes discreet references to his "occupation" and his clientele and flats in the city (London); and Joey, a brute training to become a professional boxer and who works in demolition. The sixth character is a woman, Ruth, Teddy's wife. The play concerns Teddy's and Ruth's "homecoming," which has distinctly different symbolic and thematic implications. In the ini ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
No Man's Land (play)
''No Man's Land'' is a play by Harold Pinter written in 1974 and first produced and published in 1975. Its original production was at the Old Vic theatre in London by the National Theatre on 23 April 1975, and it later transferred to Wyndham's Theatre, July 1975 – January 1976, the Lyttelton Theatre April–May 1976, and New York's Longacre Theatre from October–December 1976. It returned to the Lyttelton from January – February 1977. It is a two-act play. Setting "A large room in a house in North West London" on a summer night and the following morning.Harold Pinter, ''No Man's Land'' (New York: Grove, 1975) . pag., 8–9 (Subsequent parenthetical page references throughout are to this ed.) Characters *Hirst, ''a man in his sixties'' *Spooner, ''a man in his sixties'' *Foster, ''a man in his thirties'' *Briggs, ''a man in his forties'' Hirst is an alcoholic upper-class litterateur who lives in a grand house presumed to be in Hampstead, with Foster and Briggs, respe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Room (play)
''The Room'' is Harold Pinter's first play, written and first produced in 1957. Considered by critics the earliest example of Pinter's "comedy of menace", this play has strong similarities to Pinter's second play, '' The Birthday Party'', including features considered hallmarks of Pinter's early work and of the so-called Pinteresque: dialogue that is comically familiar and yet disturbingly unfamiliar, simultaneously or alternatingly both mundane and frightening; subtle yet contradictory and ambiguous characterizations; a comic yet menacing mood characteristic of mid-twentieth-century English tragicomedy; a plot featuring reversals and surprises that can be both funny and emotionally moving; and an unconventional ending that leaves at least some questions unresolved.See "Biobibliographical Notes" (including secondary sources of works cited in its attached bibliography); Billington, ''Harold Pinter''; and Merritt, ''Pinter in Play''. Setting and characters Pinter has confirmed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Betrayal (play)
''Betrayal'' is a play written by Harold Pinter in 1978. Critically regarded as one of the English playwright's major dramatic works, it features his characteristically economical dialogue, characters' hidden emotions and veiled motivations, and their self-absorbed competitive one-upmanship, face-saving, dishonesty, and (self-) deceptions.Billington 257–67; cf. performance review by Bryden 204–06 and review essay by Merritt 192–99; see also film reviews by Canby and Ebert. Inspired by Pinter's clandestine extramarital affair with BBC Television presenter Joan Bakewell, which spanned seven years, from 1962 to 1969,Billington 257–58, 264–67; cf. the memoir by Bakewell, which includes two chapters on her relationship and affair with Pinter. the plot of ''Betrayal'' integrates different permutations of betrayal relating to a seven-year affair involving a married couple, Emma and Robert, and Robert's "close friend" Jerry, who is also married, to a woman named Judith. For ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2005 Nobel Prize In Literature
The 2005 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the British playwright Harold Pinter (1930–2008) "who in his plays uncovers the precipice under everyday prattle and forces entry into oppression's closed rooms." He is the 11th British writer to become a recipient of the prize after William Golding in 1983 and was followed later by Doris Lessing in 2007 and Kazuo Ishiguro in 2017. Laureate Harold Pinter's writing consists primarily of dramas. A recurring theme in his plays is an inability to communicate in relationships, while the dialogue is often clear-cut, the expressions of relationships—balances of power, class and gender divisions—lie beneath the words. His plays sometimes include dark humor and violence that is combined with their unpredictability, making them frightening. Pinter's writing also has a political dimension, inciting revolt against ruling power. His best-known plays include '' The Birthday Party'' (1957), '' The Caretaker'' (1959), ''The Homecoming'' (196 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Servant (1963 Film)
''The Servant'' is a 1963 British drama film directed by Joseph Losey. It was written by Harold Pinter, who adapted Robin Maugham's 1948 novella of the same name. The film stars Dirk Bogarde, Sarah Miles, Wendy Craig and James Fox. The first of Pinter's three film collaborations with Losey, ''The Servant'' is a tightly constructed film about the psychological relationships among the four central characters and examines issues relating to social class. Plot Wealthy Londoner Tony, who says that he is part of a plan to build cities in Brazil, moves into his new house, and hires Hugo Barrett as his manservant. Barrett appears to take easily to his new job, and he and Tony form a quiet bond, retaining their social roles. Relationships begin shifting, however, when Tony's girlfriend Susan meets Barrett. She is suspicious of Barrett and asks Tony to dismiss him, but he refuses. To bring his lover, Vera, into his world, Barrett convinces Tony that the house also needs a maid. When T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vivien Merchant
Ada Brand Thomson (22 July 1929 – 3 October 1982), known professionally as Vivien Merchant, was an English actress. She began her career in 1942, and became known for dramatic roles on stage and in films. In 1956 she married the playwright Harold Pinter and performed in many of his plays. Merchant achieved considerable success from the 1950s to the 1970s, winning the British Academy Television Award for Best Actress, BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress in 1964. For her role in the film ''Alfie (1966 film), Alfie'' (1966), she received an Academy Awards, Academy Award nomination for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actress, and won the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles, BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer. In 1967, she starred in the Broadway (theatre), Broadway production of Pinter's ''The Homecoming'', and received a Tony Award nomination. Her other films included ''Accident (1967 film), Accident'' (1967), ''The Offence'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Go-Between (1971 Film)
''The Go-Between'' is a 1971 British historical drama film directed by Joseph Losey. Its screenplay by Harold Pinter is an adaptation of the 1953 novel '' The Go-Between'' by L. P. Hartley. The film stars Julie Christie, Alan Bates, Margaret Leighton, Michael Redgrave and Dominic Guard. ''The Go-Between'' won the Palme d'Or at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival. Mostly set around 1900, ''The Go-Between'' exposes the psychologically destructive effects of the rigid class conventions in Great Britain. Plot In 1900, twelve-year-old Leo Colston is invited to spend his summer holiday at Brandham Hall, the Norfolk country house of his wealthy school friend, Marcus Maudsley. Upon arriving at the house, the middle-class Leo finds himself out of place among the upper class; his hosts, particularly Marcus's older sister Marian, try to make him feel welcome. Leo soon develops a crush on the beautiful Marian, who dotes on the boy and buys him new clothes. Marcus becomes ill with the me ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antonia Fraser
Lady Antonia Margaret Caroline Fraser, (; born 27 August 1932) is a British author of history, novels, biographies and detective fiction. She is the widow of the 2005 Nobel Laureate in Literature, Harold Pinter (1930–2008), and prior to his death was also known as Lady Antonia Pinter. Mel Gussow"The Lady Is a Writer" '' The New York Times Magazine'', 9 September 1984, Sec. 6, Health: 60, col. 2. Print. The New York Times Company, 9 September 1984; retrieved 8 April 2009.Antonia Fraser"Writer's Rooms: Antonia Fraser" '' Guardian'', Culture: Books, Guardian Media Group, 13 June 2008; retrieved 8 April 2009. (Includes photograph of Antonia Fraser's study.) "In a Frank Interview, the Famed Writer Talks about Motherhood, Catholicism, Her Parents and Soulmate Harold Pinter", ''The Times'', News Corporation, 5 July 2008, 9 April 2009. she and her siblings converted to Catholicism, following the conversions of their parents.Daniel Snowman,"Lady Antonia Fraser" '' History Today'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sleuth (2007 Film)
''Sleuth'' is a 2007 thriller film directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring Jude Law and Michael Caine. The screenplay by Harold Pinter is an adaptation of Anthony Shaffer's play, '' Sleuth''. Caine had previously starred in a 1972 version, where he played Law's role against Laurence Olivier. Plot Two extremely clever British men are in a game of trickery and deceit. Andrew Wyke, an aging famous author who lives alone in a high-tech mansion, after his wife Maggie has left him for a younger man; and Milo Tindle, an aspiring actor, equipped with charm and wit, who demonstrates both qualities once again. When Wyke invites Tindle to his mansion, Tindle seeks to convince the former into letting his wife go by signing the divorce paper. However, Wyke seems far more interested in playing mind games with his wife's new lover, and lures him into a series of actions he thoroughly planned in seeking revenge on his unfaithful spouse. Cast * Michael Caine as Andrew Wyke * Jude Law as Mil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
