History
''Trouble in the Works'' was one of Harold Pinter's earlier works, written in 1959. This is one of a series of short sketch comedy, Sean Foley said, "These are classic comedy sketches, some of them written for revues and cabaret nights, and there's this strain of surrealism...he got there 12 years before Monty Python," (Merritt). ''Trouble in the Works'' was written with five other sketches, known as the Revue Sketches. Many of the poems that Pinter wrote that were in more of a dialogue form turned were turned into revue sketches.Pinter, Harold. ''Complete Works''. Vol. 2. New York City: Grove/Atlantic, 1994. p. 10. From when it was first seen in 1959, not much of this play has been changed. There is one notable change that has been made in many productions, which is the changing of the last line from, "Brandy balls" to "Trouble".Theatre theories
Materialist Theory: This theory is arguably one of the most prevalent theories within the play. Materialist Theory is described as individuals are understood and defined by the products they create; though the workers are defined by the products they make, they have no claim to those products. This is clearly seen in the play as the workers are no longer able to connect with their products. Even though they are treated extremely well by the company, the workers are no longer happy, and this has negatively affected their work and production. Mr. Fibbs claims that several of the products as his own, and given that he is upper management, it would explain the disconnect between the workers and the products. Reader-Response and Reception Theory Reader-Response and Reception Theory can be defined by how the audience takes what they see or read from a production or play, regardless of the author's original intentions. Pinter wrote with no audience in mind, but merely saw a situation and later wrote about it. Pinter was surprised by how much meaning people extract from his work, when he saw it as very straightforward. Given the different backgrounds, audience members or readers could all take away their own different messages from the play; for example, a working class person may side with the workers in the play, and their hatred of the products, but someone in a higher socioeconomic status might see that the workers are given these great benefits and they are just causing trouble. Post Modern Theory: Though Pinter is often described within Modernism, there are points of Post Modern Theory that can be applied to ''Trouble in the Works''. One of the points of Post Modernist Theory is a reaction to modernism, which has a focus on the individual, while post modernism recognizes the difficulty of everyone being individuals when there are so many people. In the play, the workers push back against the products to which they don't have claim, and demand something they can get behind. Though they are asserting themselves as individuals, they are doing it as a collective.Original production
The sketch was originally performed on stage in the West EndNational Theatre
ThePinter's People
The sketch, along with 13 others by Pinter, was performed as part of '' Pinter's People'', which opened on 30 January 2007, at London'sReferences
External links
* Pinter, Harold. 1960-1980. "Harold Pinter:An Inventory of His Collection at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center". Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas at Austin