THE BIRTHDAY PARTY till 14 October

THE BIRTHDAY PARTY: Harold Pinter
Bristol Old Vic
Runs: 2h 15m, till 14 October
Review: Stewart McGill, 4 October 2006

Economic, menacing, shivers down your spine - but is that all in the past?
Bristol Old Vic open the new season at their King Street theatre in Bristol with a strongly cast and ferociously exact revival of Harold Pinter’s 1957 work The Birthday Party. Directed by Simon Reade in an economic and focussed set by Conor Murphy the production reminds us what a menacing force Pinter provided in his early years when the arrival of visitors to a household really did cause shivers!

The play explores the aftermath of Stanley leaving either the Establishment or a secret organisation to which he is bound for life. Accusation, counter-accusation, terror and ethics come with full force although I still remain puzzled by the content- even though Pinter says ‘everything to do with the play is in the play’ it remains enigmatic. Hard to believe that in 1958 we were being introduced to long playing records- this really is a work of theatre history.

The company are uniformly strong- if I mention Sheila Steafel’s Meg and Ferdy Roberts Stanley it is because they make maximum impact yet the ensemble play as a unit drawing the audience further into the nightmare following the late summer morning’s ‘ordinary-ness’.

My wonder is the need to revive the play today- so many years on, perhaps this is of its time, seen enough, and by producing in a prime slot at Bristol maybe overlooking other more exciting choices for repertoire despite its modern classic status. A good start to the season, high standards in all departments as ever but I still want fireworks in theatre rather than retrospective programming. Bristol has a thrilling reputation for new and experimental works, I hope this continues following a rather safe choice opener.

Cast
Petey: Peter Gordon
Meg: Sheila Steafel
Stanley: Ferdy Roberts
Lulu: Kathy Rose O’Brian
Goldberg: Brian Protheroe
McCann: Stephen Kennedy

Creative Team
Director: Simon Reade
Designer: Conor Murphy
Lighting: Wayne Dowdeswell
Sound: Jason Barnes

2006-10-06 11:06:56