| The Birthday Party | Melbourne Theatre Company |
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Harold Pinter’s first full-length play, written in 1958 and now considered a classic post-war drama, will be revived in a new production directed by Julian Meyrick. It will open on Wednesday 24 June at the Arts Centre, Fairfax Studio.
Structured as a thriller, The Birthday Party is set in a seaside boarding house and follows the story of cranky loner Stanley, who is terrorised by two visitors who come to stay, Goldberg and McCann. Who are they? And why are they so keen to celebrate his birthday? Not previously staged by MTC, this new production by Julian Meyrick will revisit the play from a contemporary Australian perspective.
The Birthday Party was met with general incomprehension and shock when it was first performed in London. Reviews were almost entirely hostile and it closed after only eight performances. Later it was filmed for television and its popularity grew and grew. Fifty years on it is considered one of the masterpieces of twentieth century drama and Harold Pinter is regarded as one of the world’s greatest playwrights. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005 and died in 2008.
“Pinter’s enduring, ultimately undefinable play … has the power of all first-rate art to acknowledge the past and reflect the future while existing in the tangible present.” Michael Billington, The Guardian
Language is at the heart of all Pinter’s works. He makes the inarticulate articulate and uses words as a weapon of terror. Pinter has written 29 plays, including The Caretaker, The Homecoming and Betrayal, 21 screenplays, including The Servant, The Go-Between and The French Lieutenant’s Woman, and directed numerous theatre productions.
Jada Alberts, Isaac Drandic, Gregory Fryer, Marshall Napier Glenn Shea and Pauline Whyman
Director Julian Meyrick
Set Designer Stephen Curtis
Costume Designer Louise McCarthy
Lighting Designer Matt Scott
Composer Darrin Verhagen
Melbourne Theatre Company
THE BIRTHDAY PARTY
by Harold Pinter
the Art Centre, Fairfax Studio
Season dates: 19 June – 1 August
Opening night: Wednesday 24 June at 8:00pm
Tickets: From $58.20 (Under 30s – $30)
MTC Theatre Box Office 03 8688 0800 or mtc.com.au
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