The Playgoer: The Pinter File

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Thursday, December 13, 2007

The Pinter File

Pintermaniacs take note: the British Library will now house the man's personal archives.

Highlights of the archive include an affectionate run of letters from Samuel Beckett, letters and hand-written manuscripts revealing Pinter's close collaboration with director Joseph Losey, and an exchange of letters with poet Philip Larkin.
Yup, nothing off limits. Except Sleuth.

Just kidding. I never even got to see it! Anyone want to defend it???

And has anyone seen the new Homecoming yet? I was supposed to get "educator" comps but the they never offered me replacements after the strike. Maybe they're worried Pinter is too "educational" to start with.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I saw it--a friend of mine had comps. It was a solid production with some good acting and a subtle but appropriate set. I had a few small criticisms...Raul Esparza (playing Lenny(, though a very talented actor with the right attitude for the part, didn't quite use the language to the fullest, I thought. Or rather the rhythm of the language. Every word Lenny says should a dagger, carefully placed, and his Lenny was a little too emotive for my tastes.

Still, that's being picky, when the cast was so strong overall. Eve Best (Ruth) used her body expertly in the part, choosing her body position precisely so that each movement conveyed hidden meaning. And Ian McShane is a old hand at all this.

It's my favorite of Pinter's plays, I think

Anonymous said...

It looks like I'm identified by screen name now...

Edward Einhorn

Kris Vire said...

I'll cop to being one of the only people in the world who liked the new Sleuth—though if I got to write my review over again I'd tone it down some. But I don't find it to be the unmitigated disaster so many other critics did, and I still say it's a damn sight less irritating than the Mankiewicz version with Olivier in full scenery-chewing mode.