The owners of the Comedy Theatre have actually paid tribute to one of Britain’s greatest 20th century writers renaming the theatre The Harold Pinter Theatre.
The gorgeous Grade II listed building has a long history associated with Harold Pinter. Originally the Royal Funny Theatre when it opened in 1881 it dropped the Royal in 1884 to be come called The Funny Theatre – it had no warrent to call itself the “Royal” Comedy Theatre! The auditorium remains basically that of 1881, with 3 tiers of horseshoe shaped verandas.
The next play to be staged at the newly called The Harold Pinter Theatre is Death And The Maiden by Ariel Dorfman who dedicated the play to his coach Harold Pinter. “He was its godfather and guide when it first opened Twenty Years ago and my coach for most of my composing life.” His thesis on the ridiculous in plays of Harold Pinter was released in Spanish as El absurdo entre cuatro paredes: el teatro de Harold Pinter by Editorial Universitaria, in Santiago, Chile, in 1968. Pinter later ended up being a personal friend as well as an influence on Dorfman’s work and political thinking.
“The work of Pinter has become an essential part of the history of the Comedy Theatre,” stated Howard Panter, ATG’s joint president and imaginative director. Over the last 21 years the theatre has actually staged 7 Harold Pinter productions – most just recently Betrayal written in 1978. Other productions were The Lover/The Collection, Homecoming, No Male’s Land, Moonlight, The Hothouse and The Caretaker. He also directed a number of productions there inlucing The Caretaker, Twelve Angry Men and the Simon Gray plays Otherwise Engaged and The Old Masters.
Born in 1930 in East London, Pinter composed 32 plays, 22 movie scripts and directed 36 theatre productions. Harold Pinter won the Nobel Reward for Literature in 2005 and the citation stated “in his plays he reveals the precipice in everyday prattle and forces entry into oppression’s closed spaces”. He was awarded a CBE in 1966, later on declined a knighthood and became a Friend of Honour, a special award in the gift of the Sovereign, in 2002. His design was so distinctive, “Pinteresque” entered the Oxford English Dictionary.
Other recent productions have consisted of in 2010 La La Bête by David Hirson, starring Mark Rylance, David Hyde Pierce and Joanna Lumley, Birdsong, based upon the book by Sebastian Faulks, and The Children’s Hour, starring Keira Knightley.
The Harold Pinter Theatre seating strategy is over 4 levels – Stalls, Dress Circle, Royal Circle and Veranda and is centrally situated near Piccadilly Circus on Panton Street in the heart of the West End. Search Death And The Maiden tickets to check out The Harold Pinter Theatre.
The owners of the Comedy Theatre have actually paid tribute to among Britain’s greatest 20th century authors relabeling the theatre The Harold Pinter Theatre.
