The Playgoer: Pinter Speaks

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Thursday, December 08, 2005

Pinter Speaks

The link is up on the Nobel website to the video of the video of Pinter's long-distance (and hoarse and wheelchair-bound) acceptance speech. The wait may be long as the traffic is high, and I myself haven't been able to access it yet. Transcribed text is also available there, and from what I've seen so far, the speech seems anything but "phoned in." And, yes, it is mostly political, of the incendiary kind.

Here's a quick summary from today's Times, for the highlights.

In this sampling, am I alone in hearing the echoes of Pinter's late friend and comrade in arms, Arthur Miller?

I put to you that the United States is without doubt the greatest show on the road [in the abuse of human rights]. Brutal, indifferent, scornful and ruthless it may be, but it is also very clever. As a salesman it is out on its own and its most saleable commodity is self-love.

Let the pile-on begin!

1 comment:

Freeman said...

Christ this is brutal and amazing. I suggest that everyone who loves theatre watch this quietly, in the dark, with a brandy...crying.