Harold Pinter: Stages, Networks, Collaborations

by Basil Chiasson (Editor), Enoch Brater (Editor), Catriona Fallow (Editor), Mark Taylor-Batty (Editor)

Overview

This important book offers a thematic collection of critical essays, ideal for undergraduate courses on modern British theatre, on Harold Pinter's theatrical works, alongside new interviews with contemporary theatre practitioners.

The life and works of Harold Pinter (1930-2008), a pivotal figure in twentieth- and twenty-first century British theatre, have been widely discussed, debated and celebrated internationally. For over five decades, Pinter's work traversed and redefined various forms and genres, constantly in dialogue with, and often impacting the work of, other writers, artists and activists. He is today considered one of the most important British playwrights ever to have lived.

Through combining a reconsideration of key Pinter scholarship with new contexts, voices and theoretical approaches, it opens up fresh insights into the author's work, politics, collaborations and his enduring status as one of the world's foremost twentieth-century dramatists.

Divided into three parts, the book is compiled of a collection of chapters that re-contextualize Pinter as a cultural figure; explore and interrogate his influence on contemporary British playwriting; and offer a series of original interviews with theatre-makers engaging in the staging of Pinter's work today. Reconsiderations of Pinter's relationship to literary and theatrical movements such as Modernism and the Theatre of the Absurd; interrogations of the role of class, elitism and religious and cultural identity sit alongside chapters on Pinter's personal politics, specifically in relation to the Middle East.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781350211940
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	08/25/2022
Series:	Methuen Drama Engage
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.51(d)

About the Author

Dr Catriona Fallow (University of Birmingham) specialises in contemporary British and European playwriting, theatre history, historiography and archival studies. Her work has appeared in Studies in Theatre and Performance and in forthcoming edited collections on the work of Dennis Kelly (Manchester, 2020) and the #MeToo movement (Intellect, 2019). Her current research focuses on Harold Pinter's relationship with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). She has recently appeared on BBC 4's Women's Hour and public panel discussions at the British Film Institute (BFI) addressing the subject of Pinter's female characters.

Dr Basil Chiasson (University of Leeds) works on Harold Pinter and contemporary British drama and performance. He has published a full-length monograph, The Late Harold Pinter: Political Dramatist, Poet and Activist (Palgrave, 2017) and contributed chapters to The Theatre of Harold Pinter (Bloomsbury, 2014), Harold Pinter's 'The Dumb Waiter' (Rodopi, 2009), as well as academic journals, such as Modern Drama and The Harold Pinter Review.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

Dr Catriona Fallow (University of Birmingham) and Dr Basil Chiasson (University of Leeds)

Part I: (Re)situating Pinter, Critical Orientations

2. First Chapter: 'Pinter's Modernism: Stealing Prose to Make a Drama'

Dr Basil Chiasson (University of Leeds, UK)

3. Second Chapter: 'The Theatre of the Absurd as Professional Network in the Early Career of Harold Pinter'

Dr Harry Derbyshire (University of Greenwich, UK)

4. Third Chapter: 'The Elite Pinter and the Pinter Elite'

Dr James Hudson (University of Lincoln, UK)

5. Fourth Chapter: '“Too Much of a Modern?” Pinter's Jewishness'

Professor Eckart Voigts (TU Braunschweig, Germany)

6. Fifth Chapter: 'Harold Pinter, the Peculiar Propagandist: Engaging the Middle East As a Citizen of the World'

Professor Ibrahim Yerebakan (Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, Turkey)

Part II: Pinter as Playwright, Playwrights and Pinter

7. Seventh Chapter: '“An insistence in my mind”: Pinter's Writing Ethic'

Steve Waters (University of East Anglia, UK)

8. Eighth Chapter: Pinter and the New Writing Ecology

Dr Catriona Fallow (University of Birmingham, UK)

9. Ninth Chapter: 'Theatre's Dark Matter: Pinter's “Staging” of Systemic Violence and its Influence in Contemporary British Theatre'

Alex Watson (Royal Holloway, University of London, UK)

10. Tenth Chapter: 'For What We Are About to Receive: Pinter, Butterworth, Kelly'

Dr David Pattie (University of Birmingham, UK)

11. Eleventh Chapter: 'The Crimpesque: Pinter's Legacy in the Theatre of Martin Crimp'

Dr Maria Elena Capitani (University of Parma, Italy)

Part III: Conversations with Collaborators

12. Interviews (approximately 3-5)

13. Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

"Presents an interdisciplinary approach to Pinter studies that will be of interest to scholars, students, and theater artists alike … A worthy addition to any academic library or Pinter scholar’s bookshelf." - Harold Pinter Review

“I really like the way the different strands are woven together : reconsideration of Pinter's status, biographical (including his Jewishness) and political factors, his relationship with the theatre of his time and his position within the major trends of 20th century European theatre. The presence of a practising British playwright within the contributors thinking about Pinter's working methods is very interesting as is the commentary on Pinter's influence on contemporary playwrights such as Martin Crimp, Dennis Kelly, Jez Butterworth. The final section of proposed interviews will tap into the current revival of interest in Pinter production – the 2018 Bristol Old Vic all-black actors production of The Caretaker and the current high-profile and critically acclaimed season of plays presented at the Pinter Theatre in London are just two examples.” —Professor Claire Cochrane, University of Worcester, UK

“This fascinating collection of essays and interviews breaks new ground in Pinter studies. Offering fresh perspectives from leading scholars and theatre practitioners – on Pinter's plays, the theatrical and institutional contexts that shaped his career, and the extraordinary influence and legacy of his drama – this is a major reassessment of Pinter the playwright, collaborator, and cultural icon.” —Chris Megson, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK

“An essential, up-to-date collection of kaleidoscopic perceptions of Pinter's work. Ranging from past to future, this rich collection encompasses varying scholarly views – revisiting Pinter's drama in different contexts or examining his influence on subsequent playwrights – and concludes with the perspectives of innovative Pinter collaborators, who also chart new approaches for future productions.” —Yael Zarhy-Levo, Tel Aviv University, Israel

“The Oxford English Dictionary records the use of the adjective Pinteresque as early as 1960, when only three years after his dramatic debut Harold Pinter was already being monumentalized. Against the myth of the sui generis artist, this book offers a competing view. Surveying the landscape of Pinter's idols, peers, and heirs – and of the global networks, cultural institutions, and material practices that made him – Chiasson, Fallow and their collaborators reveal the fertile soil in which a legacy could take root.” —R. Darren Gobert, Duke University, USA

From the Publisher