Birthday Party by Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005 and his play "The Birthday Party" was first performed in 1945.
Meg and Petey's boarding house is the scene of this classic English drama, a quiet boarding house with almost no passengers, whose owners are happy that their boarding house's name is on the list of the city's boarding houses.
The birthday party for Stanley, the only guest of the boarding house, turns into a nightmare with the presence of two strangers. This play examines identity, power dynamics, the absurdity of everyday life, and human relationships.
The use of short and indifferent answers, which are mostly used at the beginning and end of the play, are used more to end the conversation than to maintain communication and interaction.
In my view, the temporal progression of this drama can be delineated into two distinct phases: firstly, the intervals when the strangers are absent, marking both the commencement and conclusion of the play; and secondly, the periods when the two strangers, Goldberg and McCann, are actively involved.
In the play, we do not know about the background of Stanley, who is the central character of this play, except that he was a pianist and lived in a secluded boarding house for some time. Is there a danger that threatens him that is hidden there? Is he a dangerous person? As the birthday party progresses, from the eyes of the two newcomers, "Stanley" appears as a mysterious and isolated figure who may have betrayed his organization and hidden away as a fugitive in a boarding house or committed a crime, creating an ambiguous atmosphere for the drama. adds When Goldberg and his fearsome accomplice McCann. First indirectly and then after receiving vague and suspicious answers from "Stanley Weber", they somehow start interrogating him. They call him by other names like Joe Soap. Do they know Stanley? Their exact motives and motives are unclear, and Stanley resists their sometimes threatening questions. Are there interrogators who came to arrest him in a van? Over time, it adds to the ambiguous atmosphere of the play.
Meg and Petey's boarding house is the scene of this classic English drama, a quiet boarding house with almost no passengers, whose owners are happy that their boarding house's name is on the list of the city's boarding houses.
The birthday party for Stanley, the only guest of the boarding house, turns into a nightmare with the presence of two strangers. This play examines identity, power dynamics, the absurdity of everyday life, and human relationships.
The use of short and indifferent answers, which are mostly used at the beginning and end of the play, are used more to end the conversation than to maintain communication and interaction.
In my view, the temporal progression of this drama can be delineated into two distinct phases: firstly, the intervals when the strangers are absent, marking both the commencement and conclusion of the play; and secondly, the periods when the two strangers, Goldberg and McCann, are actively involved.
In the play, we do not know about the background of Stanley, who is the central character of this play, except that he was a pianist and lived in a secluded boarding house for some time. Is there a danger that threatens him that is hidden there? Is he a dangerous person? As the birthday party progresses, from the eyes of the two newcomers, "Stanley" appears as a mysterious and isolated figure who may have betrayed his organization and hidden away as a fugitive in a boarding house or committed a crime, creating an ambiguous atmosphere for the drama. adds When Goldberg and his fearsome accomplice McCann. First indirectly and then after receiving vague and suspicious answers from "Stanley Weber", they somehow start interrogating him. They call him by other names like Joe Soap. Do they know Stanley? Their exact motives and motives are unclear, and Stanley resists their sometimes threatening questions. Are there interrogators who came to arrest him in a van? Over time, it adds to the ambiguous atmosphere of the play.
While searching for some sources, I saw a few sentences of Harold Pinter regarding this play on several websites, which attracted me a lot.
"Perhaps one can understand Harold Pinter's connection with the world of theater from his reply to a letter from a lady who was worried about her inability to understand the concepts of the birthday play. The reader writes: Dear Sir, I would be very grateful if you could please And clarify what you mean by the birthday party play. There are some things I can't understand: 1) Who are the two men? 2) Where does Stanley come from? 3) Are the people in the play normal people? Please keep in mind that if you don't answer these questions, I won't be able to fully understand your drama. Then Harold Pinter replies: Dear Madam, I would be very grateful if you would be so kind as to explain what you mean. Please clarify from the letter sent. There are some points that I cannot understand: 1) Who are you? 2) Where do you come from? 3) Are you a normal person? Please keep in mind that if you don't answer To these questions, I will be unable to fully understand your letter"
BBC Channel 4 shared a performance of this play on YouTube, I recommend watching if you liek you can watch free. Finally, in my opinion, Harvard Pinter allows or rather forces us to interpret the events on the stage ourselves.
PINTER'S THE BIRTHDAY PARTY Part 1 of 4
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