Raise a Glass to Harold Pinter

[ellen_datlow]

One of my favorite contemporary playwrights died of cancer Christmas Eve, Harold Pinter.

In addition to writing some great plays (I most recently saw the new production his The Homecoming, he wrote the scripts for The French Lieutenant's Woman, The Servant, The Go-Between, The Trial, and Sleuth.

He won the Nobel prize for literature in 2005.

Comments

[chalkhorse.livejournal.com]

A real loss to the world of letters. My college theatre professors instilled his genius in their students. I remember performing scenes from Betrayal.

[neile.livejournal.com]

I used to read plays more than novels, and Pinter's were amongst the best of the best.

Damn.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

His work was never boring.
He acted as well, but I don't think I ever saw him in anything.

[misplacedmind.livejournal.com]

How very sad. I just recently saw a (local) production of Betrayal. He was a brilliant playwright.

[fastfwd.livejournal.com]

Here's to you, Mr. Pinter, wherever you are.

[neojess.livejournal.com]

He was a brilliant man - my students never understand why I like Sir Thomas in Mansfield Park so much. We're richer for having had him, and poorer for his loss.

[(Anonymous)]

Having just read a handful of McDonagh's plays (the Galway/Leenane stories), the Pinter influence is clear. And McDonagh is certainly fine but, well, it could be said of everybody except Pinter: He's no Pinter. The Birthday Party and The Homecoming blew me away when I first read them...these are wellspring works, which overflowed into all sorts of things that followed them (David Lynch springs to mind). -MarcL

[(Anonymous)]

Last play I saw in Scotland before coming home was Pinter's "Betrayal" which is smart, nasty/funny, and a bit uneven. But the production was really fine. At the St Andrew's Byre Theater which--pound for pound--does some of the finest performances around.

Jane

Good Night, Harold Boy

[(Anonymous)]

I just remembered my early introduction to Pinter. My Dad had a copy of The Homecoming on his bookshelf when I was little; the title of course caught my eye, as did almost every other title on the shelf in one way or another. But it didn't mean much to me until, in 1971, The Waltons sprang onto the TV scene with the broadcast of The Homecoming: A Christmas Story. So for many years, I thought Harold Pinter was the creator of The Waltons. - MarcL

Re: Good Night, Harold Boy

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Hooboy! When did you realize he wasn't?

Re: Good Night, Harold Boy

[(Anonymous)]

Sometime in my teens, I was at my dad's place and picked up the copy, and thumbed through long enough to see no mention of John-Boy.