Practitioners Flashcards
What themes does Pinter tend to focus on?
Jealousy, betrayal, sexual politics.
What is Harold Pinter’s checklist?
Mundane situations, escalating into menace and mystery.
Characters with no known motivations.
No explanations for actions.
What is Harold Pinter’s dramatic style?
Blending comedy + drama, while taking place in 1 room, creating suspense by placing characters in tense + mysterious circumstances.
What was Harold Pinter’s background?
Leading British playwright, theatre director, poet, actor, Noble Prize Laureate, + political activist.
Started acting after finding his love for English whilst at Grammar school.
Began to write poetry from age of 12.
Attended 2 drama schools but dropped out of both.
Writes 1st play, The Room, in 1957 and writes The Birthday Party in the same year which was produced in 1958.
The Room initially a commercial and critical disaster eventually considered 1 of his best works.
What is Berkoff’s background?
Left school aged 15 stole bike prison for 3 months.
At 16 worked series of dead end jobs inspired for “East”.
Moved Germany aged 18 to start new job + life. Returned + trained as actor.
Learnt skills of Lecoq mime, movement, mask created productions mime orientated anti-realistic partly artaudian.
Believed actions speak louder than words.
Naturalistic drama not always speak to audience as well as it could.
