The truth is out there
On the eve of Glasgow’s mini Harold Pinter festival, our theatre editor argues that the dramatic work of the great pausemeister is more relevant than ever.
et‘s face it. he‘s the guvnor. There are many
towering greats within world theatre when it
comes to writing - llandke. Shepard. Mamet. Albee. The UK alone can point to (‘aryl Churchill. as well as the scandaloust under-produced (in this country) Iidward Bond and Howard Barker. But. for my tnoney. Harold Pinter stands above the rest. Why'.’
Above all. it‘s about truth. All great writing provides an authenticin to its commentary on life. an absolute core of believability about human relations and society which any thinking person can relate to. Yet there is a difference between authenticity and truth. Authenticity displays its own theatricality. points to the fact that it is illusion in producing verisiinilitude. a psychological believability. whereas tt‘ttthittst looks like it‘s real.
I‘m not saying that the best writing should he enslaved by a naturalistic or realistic representation of everyday life 7 if that‘s all we want froin the theatre. we might as well just watch people in the street for entertainment. But what‘s fascinating about I’itttc‘l“s work is that is precisely what he does. then filters life through the experience of am. What we get from this process is something that doesn’t seem real. because it's so real.
Iiavesdrop any conversation on a bus. take it down word for word. and you'll find all the tautologies. oxymorons. pauses. silences and occasional segues into threatening nonsense and surreal metaphor found in Pinter's best texts.
People say that this is about an inability to communicate. btit I don't know about this. As 'l‘om Lehrer once remarked: ‘If people can‘t communicate. you'd think the very least they could do is shut up.‘ But Pinter‘s characters. for all the evasions and unconscious metaphors in their speech. communicate only too well. The author maintains that his characters use language to avoid communication. but can’t help but convey things they wished they hadn't.
This. for example. is a way of seeing Betrayal. shortly to be produced under the direction of Andy Arnold at the Arches. The play. first written in l978. was at the time said to be an oblique biographical account of the breakdown of the author's marriage with actress Vivian Merchant and his subsequent relationship with current wife Lady Antonia I‘raser. yet this concealed his more pertinent -— and at the time unknown affair with television presenter Joan Bakewell.
It‘s not my intention to slip into prurient biographical observation here. btit merely to illustrate the fact that tensions within relationships are often multifaceted. and that beneath one subtext. there is often another. something germane to I’inter‘s work. Betrayal. with its story of marital infidelity. illustrates something far more profound about gender relations than any down of the
10 ms LIST 92 Sep (3 ()ct you!)
PINTER'S WORK FILTERS LIFE THROUGH THE HEIGHTENED EXPERIENCE
many plays we might see on the subject in an average theatre year. I-‘or one thing. it portrays women as pragmatic about relationships. and men as romantic. It also cautions its about the equation of love with sexuality and power. a lesson both genders are yet to learn. To see Selena Boyack in this production will be worth the admission alone. In repertory with l‘)‘).‘s‘s .‘lloon/ig/tl. a powerful drama about family and mortality. and {I Ail/l1](MINUS/((1. the story of a woman afflicted by narcolepcy which has robbed her of many years (to be played by Morag Stark. one of the strongest actresses in Scotland of recent years). this little festival looks a treat for all those who share my enthusiasm for the old pausemeister.
'l‘ruth. though. can often attract criticism from those who don’t wish to be confronted with the unhurnishcd facts of life. I‘iUl' tltose \\ ltti seek glib explanations of his plays from l’iiitcr. we receive only his avci'i‘cd reiteration that they are simply what he's observed. truthfully. 'I can suin tip none of my play s. I can describe none of them. except to say: 'l’hat is what happened. that is what they said. that is what they tlid.’ he once stated.
llis opposition to the current world order. something that has emerged strongly over the last two decades. has also created hostility from many quarters of the establishment. btit once again. this is really about truth. and the sins of omission in our media’s representation of such issues as the Iraq war. ‘At least 20.000 civilians have been killed in Iraq and many thousands more mtttilated for life. We don‘t see the corpses or the mutilated children on televisioiif he said in a speech at the Imperial War Museum at this time last year. What does this .lewish liast lind boy made great want'.’ .ltist the same as ever: the truth.
The Last of the Classic Seasons: Three Contemporary Plays by Harold Pinter, the Arches, Glasgow, Fri 30 Sep—Sat 15 Oct.
PlUCKING FRUITS FROM THE CULTURAL BUSH
I Warner Brothers is planning its first foray onto
Broadway. 1 estat. based on the novels of Anne Rice. Wiil he a multimedia iii;is:ca! production featuring sets des-gned by graphic novel artist Dave McKean and songs oy Elton John . . . Another project likeiy to be huge \Nitt‘. the iniiti goths is Rob Zombie’s fantastically titled animation 'thVlC the l-ladrited World of I / Superheasto. wlnie a different message conveyed in animated foriii y'all he the sc:~f: z-iclionet. 2004: A 1 tom K.'iIQ/l."fi Odyssey. voiced by John Travolta, Christian Slater, James Earl Jones and Samuel L Jackson. It claims to encourage science literacy. although rumours are it's a
Jessica Lange. Sissy Spacek and Kathy Bates are set to star iii Bonneville. The film follows a
Scientoiogy inoVie .
recently Wit lowed woman who goes on a road tiip With her friends to give her husband's ashes to his daughter . Cartoon hand Gorilla: Will be touring as they rightfully should: as cartoons. Due to the massively complicated process in turning themselves into (it) lyolr‘)g.;ra.iplys. the tour Will not start until 900/. But their new telepoitation technology Wlll mean that they can then play in more than one place at the same time . . A bunch of classic l\/ series are rumoured to be returning in 9006 With The Royle Family and Cracker heading the )ack Although Johnny Depp Will he reprising his role of Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the (?.'i.'il)l)e.'in; Dead Man's Chest, it Won't feature all of hint. Apparently he has 'girly hands' quite tiii'oefittng of a pirate so a double Will he used.