The Pinter season continues at the Pinter Theatre. On Friday I was taken to see five of his one-acters. It was especially interesting for at least two reasons.
First it was by invitation for press and guests. Obviously I didn’t know a soul but my host introduced me to everybody from the front of house staff to director, Jamie Lloyd, and the producer for Ambassador Theatre Group – both very genial coves. Actually the first three plays were directed by Patrick Marber and I couldn’t remember why I knew his name. Doh! He wrote and directed Dealer’s Choice in the West End that I saw at LAMDA but it was PB (pre-blog). When I saw two Pinters in October they were both early 1960s. Friday was interesting as The Room is 1957, Victoria Station, 1982, Family Voices, 1981, Party Time, 1991, and Celebration, 2000. So it was a chance to see how he developed and, unlike Matisse, he improved. I don’t care for Matisse’s cut-outs.
Jamie Lloyd (and Patrick Marber) have done a good job bringing back these largely unknown works to life. At least one of them (Victoria Station) seems to have been written for the wireless. They have pulled out all the stops in the casting dept. On Friday I saw Rupert Graves, Jane Horrocks, Celia Imrie and Gary Kemp. Tom Hiddleston is in the next slew of Pinters. They assure Pinter a place on the Long Life shelf alongside Coward and Rattigan. William Douglas Home’s drawing room comedies, so successful when he wrote them, are seldom performed today except perhaps by amateur dramatic societies.