The Jamie Lloyd Company, Ambassador Theatre Group, Benjamin Lowy Productions, Gavin Kalin Productions and Glass Half Full Productions present an extraordinary season of Harold Pinter’s one-act plays on the tenth anniversary of the Nobel Prize winner’s death, performed in the theatre that bears his name. Pinter at the Pinter is a unique event featuring all twenty short plays written by Harold Pinter. They have never been performed together in a season of this kind.
Artistic Director Jamie Lloyd said: “This season is an extraordinary opportunity to celebrate the legacy of an icon. Harold Pinter revolutionised international theatre and the political force of his words feels more vital than ever.”
The twenty plays will be presented in repertoire by a company of world-class creatives, many of whom were Harold Pinter’s friends and collaborators. The cast includes Ron Cook, Danny Dyer, Martin Freeman, Tamsin Greig, Jane Horrocks, Celia Imrie, John Macmillan, Emma Naomi, Tracy Ann Oberman, Abraham Popoola, David Suchet and Nicholas Woodeson.
Direction is by Jamie Lloyd, Patrick Marber, Lyndsey Turner, Ed Stambollouian and Lia Williams.
Lloyd continued: “On the tenth anniversary of Harold Pinter’s death, it feels very important to acknowledge his impact on our cultural and political lives. I am particularly excited to be introducing a huge body of Harold’s work – by turns dangerous, weird, riotously funny, beautifully lyrical and explosively political – to our young, diverse audience.”
Lady Antonia Fraser, Pinter’s widow, said: “Presenting all of Harold’s one-act plays is a great adventure. It’s never been done before and I am deeply excited at the prospect of seeing them all together in one season. I do have a wistful thought: if only Harold could be here and experience it himself! This is the most appropriate and thrilling way to mark the 10th anniversary of his death in December 2008.”
The eclectic season, which celebrates the remarkable breadth and range of Pinter’s oeuvre, opens with a dynamic collection of his most potent and dangerous political plays – One for the Road, The New World Order, Mountain Language directed by Jamie Lloyd and Ashes to Ashes directed by Lia Williams, which play in repertoire with the playful and provocative The Lover and The Collection, which features David Suchet and John Macmillan.
The famous modern classic The Dumb Waiter stars Danny Dyer and Martin Freeman and is paired with the fascinating psychological comedy drama A Slight Ache. Two pertinent and irresistibly funny social satires, Party Time and Celebration, feature Ron Cook, Celia Imrie, Abraham Popoola and Tracy Ann Oberman, whilst the spellbinding and atmospheric Landscape and A Kind of Alaska will star Tamsin Greig.
There is a rare opportunity to see Pinter’s first play, The Room, starring Jane Horrocks with Emma Naomi and Nicholas Woodeson and directed by Patrick Marber, alongside Victoria Station and Family Voices. Olivier Award winner Lyndsey Turner directs the emotionally raw and haunting Moonlight alongside inventive young director Ed Stambollouian’s production of Night School – a quirky Pinter rarity. Special rehearsed readings of Tea Party, The Basement and Silence complete the season.
