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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hello. A number of you has written to me
offline about the</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>posting I made last week about Harold Pinter's
return to the theatre as an actor. Given the degree of interest, I thought
the following account of his birthday party, which took place just days
before the Nobel was announced, might engage your attention.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>--Denis.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>Yes I was at
the recent 75th birthday celebrations<BR>>> for Harold Pinter attending
readings at the Gate<BR>>> Theatre last Saturday and Sunday -
the<BR>>> overwhelming reception of the Dublin audiences, the<BR>>>
commitment of those involved, and the presence of<BR>>> the author himself
combined at times to elevate<BR>>> these apparent 'readings' to the level
of<BR>>> extraordinary theatrical event. In the first, a<BR>>>
reading of Celebration, a stellar cast (including<BR>>> Sinead Cusack,
Janie Dee, Michael Gambon, Jeremy<BR>>> Irons, Derek Jacobi, Stephen Rea
and Penelope<BR>>> Wilton) produced electric performances powered by
a<BR>>> palpable sense of the importance of the occasion and<BR>>>
the will of the audience, vehemently expressed. In<BR>>> the second
reading on Sunday, a much larger cast,<BR>>> joined by Harold Pinter after
the interval (frail<BR>>> but steely), read from a wide selection of
his<BR>>> prose, poems and plays - at times serious, intimate<BR>>>
and at times appallingly funny.<BR>>> At first, it seemed a little
surprising that this<BR>>> celebration was taking place outside the UK,
but<BR>>> remembering Pinter's long association with Ireland<BR>>>
(as actor and playwright), and of course his<BR>>> passionate opposition
to the policy of the UK<BR>>> government, both the time and the place
began to<BR>>> seem peculiarly apt.<BR>>> Michael Billington wrote
in his perspicacious<BR>>> contribution to the programme for the whole
event:<BR>>> 'No play survives if it doesn't resonate with our<BR>>>
own experience of life. That after all, is why we go<BR>>> back to time
and again to Hamlet, The Cherry<BR>>> Orchard, and Waiting for Godot. And
Pinter, by that<BR>>> criterion earns classic status. From The
Birthday<BR>>> Party onwards he has pinned down the uncertainty
and<BR>>> fear that haunts human existence: also the way our<BR>>>
fundamental insecurity manifests itself in a desire<BR>>> to achieve
temporary domination over others.'<BR>>> Through concentrating on the
work, and through the<BR>>> self-effacing role which Harold Pinter
himself<BR>>> deliberately took (moving slowly and painfully
to<BR>>> the front of the auditorium to shake hands with each<BR>>>
performer in turn after Celebration), this<BR>>> celebration became as
much a celebration of our<BR>>> common humanity - expressed through
theatre - as the<BR>>> contribution of one outstanding
man.<BR>>></FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>>><BR>>>
Nicholas Wood<BR>>> Central School of Speech and Drama<BR>>> Embassy
Theatre<BR>>> Eton Avenue<BR>>> London<BR>>> NW3
3HY</FONT><BR></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>