Pinter at the Pinter

Pinter at the Pinter: Complete guide to the Harold Pinter season

Will Longman
Will Longman

Jamie Lloyd has announced a jam-packed season of Harold Pinter's one-act plays at the West End theatre bearing his name (the Harold Pinter Theatre) to commemorate ten year's since the Nobel Laureate's death.

There are 15 plays to be performed over 7 different shows, with the first performances running in September, and the final taking place in January 2019. Add into the mix a whole host of star actors and directors - including David Suchet, Danny Dyer, Jane HorrocksMartin Freeman and Tamsin Greig - you'd be forgiven if it all gets a bit confusing.

Here, we're going to breakdown everything we know about the season, and update the information accordingly as soon as it becomes available


Pinter One: One For The Road/ New World Order/Mountain Language Ashes to Ashes

6th September - 20th October
Directed by: Jamie Lloyd (One For The Road, New World Order), Lia Williams (Ashes to Ashes)
Starring:  Paapa Essiedu, Kate O'Flynn, Jonjo O'Neill, Antony Sher, Maggie Steed
Tickets

One for the Road
Husband and wife Victor and Gila are imprisoned along with their seven-year-old son Nicky in separate rooms of the house by the officer of a totalitarian regime, Nicolas.

New World Order
Over the course of ten minutes, two men, Des and Lionel, discuss how they are going the blindfolded man sat before them.

Mountain Language
Set in an unnamed country, four scenes show groups of prisoners who are not allowed to speak their own language

Ashes to Ashes
During an early summer evening, Devlin questions Rebecca who tells of chilling instances of abus


 

Pinter Two: The Lover/ The Collection

13th September - 20th October
Directed by: Jamie Lloyd
Starring: David Suchet, John Macmillan, Hayley Squires, Russell Tovey
Tickets

The Lover
A secluded, middle class couple deal with a dwindling sex life which has led to wife Sarah seeing a lover to husband Richard's full knowledge.

The Collection
Young fashion designer Bill, who lives with his partner Harry, is accused by a strange man named James of sleeping with his wife in a Leeds hotel


Pinter Three:Landscape/ A Kind of Alaska

25th October - 8th December
Directed by: Jamie Lloyd
Starring: Tamsin Greig, Keith Allen, Penelope Wilton, Lee Evans Meera Syal
Tickets

Landscape
Two characters talk while seemingly not able to hear the other; Beth reminisces about past romantic episodes, while Duff is more focussed on practical matters.

A Kind of Alaska
A middle-aged woman awakes from a 30-year coma with the mind of a 16-year-old, and must deal with a body that has aged and a world that has continued without her knowledge.


Pinter Four: Moonlight/ Night School

1st November - 8th December
Directed by: Lyndsey Turner (Moonlight), Ed Stambollouian (Night School)
Starring:  Jessica Barden
Tickets

Moonlight
A former civil servant is tended to on his deathbed by his wife Bel, while his sons pass the time together in a shabby bedsit, and his former mistress gets on with life with her husband.

Night School
A man returns home from a stint in jail to find that his two aunts have let his room out to a stranger.


 

Pinter Five: The Room/ Victoria Station/ Family Voices

13th December - 26th January 2019
Directed by: Partick Marber
Starring: Jane Horrocks, Emma Naomi, Nicholas Woodesen , Rupert Graves, Luke Thallon
Tickets

The Room
Harold Pinter's first play, The Room is set in the dingy flat of Rose and Bert Hudd as they are paid visits by their landlord, a young couple and their blind neighbour.

Victoria Station
A mini-cab controller radios a driver who is refusing to leave the dark park in Crystal Palace and is awaiting further instruction.

Family Voices
A mother and son write a series of letters to each other after the death of the son's father, and the son has moved to the city.   


Pinter Six: Party Time/ Celebration

20th December - 26th January 2019
Directed by: Jamie Lloyd
Starring: Celia Imrie, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Abraham Popoola, John Simm, Phil Davis, Gary Kemp
Tickets

Party Time
A group of high-power professionals chat at a fashionable party while violence pills out onto the streets outside.

Celebration
Three couples dine in the most expensive restaurant in town, but what seems to be a mundane celebration has much darker undertones.


Pinter Seven: The Dumb Waiter/ A Slight Ache

31st January 2019 - 23rd February 2019
Directed by: Jamie Lloyd
Starring: Danny Dyer, Martin Freeman
Tickets

The Dumb Waiter
Two hitmen sit in a basement awaiting news on their next target, as a mysterious dumbwaiter in the room delivers food orders, despite the room clearly not being fitted out as a kitchen for a restaurant.

A Slight Ache
Couple Flora and Edward invite a mute matchseller into their home, and what began as a pleasant midsummer's day soon disintegrates into total chaos.

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