“When my father died in 2013, I remember reading the words ‘truth to power’ in his obituary. That was when I got in touch with Henry. I wanted to know more about their lives, more about that ballet between them, and why those words had become so important to Harold, Mick and the rest of
Read MoreLemn Sissay is the winner of the 2019 PEN Pinter Prize
The British poet and playwright Lemn Sissay has been awarded the prestigious 2019 PEN Pinter Prize. The award – founded in 2009 in memory of Pinter and won by such authors as Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie and Tom Stoppard – is assigned every year to an English, Irish or Commonwealth writer who, as Harold himself
Read MoreHarold Pinter and the hidden truths
The phone rings in a London apartment in the middle of the night. Harry answers. On the other end an unknown voice asks for Bill. It is in this atmosphere of suspense, worthy of an Agatha Christie movie that Harold Pinter’s “The Colllection” opens. The work which was first performed in 1962 directed by Pinter
Read MoreHarold Pinter and “the director of evil”
A genius, straight to the point and unconventional, William Friedkin is best known for directing the cult film “The French Connection”, five Oscars and three Golden Globes, as well as “The Exorcist”, the tormented 1973 film, two Oscars and four Golden Globes, which to this day is considered one of the most interesting milestones in
Read MoreHarold Pinter and the poisoned apple
A bitten apple, drowned in cyanide, and snow white with a soave voice singing “Someday My Prince Will Come”. The closing scene of “Breaking the Code”, the 1995 Herbert Wise film dedicated to Alan Turing – one of the greatest geniuses of the 20th century who is considered one of the fathers of modern-day IT-
Read MoreHarold Pinter’s Buddha
For decades many have searched for the hidden meanings in objects of daily use which Pinter liked to include in his works. In 1966 a group of English students became so curious about this that they put pen to paper and wrote to Harold himself asking for clarifications regarding certain details in ”The Caretaker” .
Read MoreIvan Kyncl: from Prague to Pinter’s theatre and much more!
“The Cartier-Bresson of theatre photographers” is how he was defined by Terry Hands, the famous theatre director who for thirteen years directed the Royal Shakespeare Company. And to think that Ivan Kyncl became a photographer almost by chance. He arrived in London at 27 years of age from what was then Czechoslovakia with just a
Read MoreHappy Birthday Alan Ayckbourn!
“What he has given to the theatre is immeasurable.” It was with these words that twenty years ago Harold Pinter referred to the great British playwright who is 80 years old tomorrow. Born in Hampstead (London) on April 12, 1939, Ayckbourn began his career in the world of theatre at 17 when he started work
Read MoreThe power hothouse
A guest who passes on to the next world and a suspicious birth. These events are a real nuisance for Roote. And on Christmas day as well. So begins “The Hothouse”, one of the most disturbing and cruel – but sometimes comical- works by Harold Pinter who wrote the play when he was 28 .
Read MoreJuliette Binoche’s betrayal
“…then there are those times she becomes a Pinter dream woman: mysterious, knowing and at least slightly the moral superior of the men…” Her name is Juliette Binoche, and in November 2000, “The New York Time” used these words to describe her debut at Broadway’s American Airlines Theatre in one of Harold Pinter’s most celebrated
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