HAROLD PINTER SHORTS
2011 // Upstairs at the 3 & 10, Brighton
This collection of Pinter’s short plays began with comedy: his earliest review sketches such as Special Offer, Last To Go and The Black & The White, then shifted gradually into darker, overtly political works from more recent years, such as The New World Order.
Áine chose to emphasise the ‘Britishness’ in all of these tiny dramas, even ‘Mountain Language’, written originally in response to human rights abuses in Turkey. Union Jacks, real and projected, dominated the tiny stage, becoming more ripped and tattered with each new scene.
Áine’s simple line-drawn projected settings of sauce bottles, beer pumps and ashtrays gave the early scenes a comic feel, but when the drama grew darker, this became stark and ironic. A matchbox which was a comic prop in Last To Go became a threat of torture in The New World Order. The Union Jack bunting which decked the stage throughout became a garrotte in the final moments.
All the quintessentially British characters were played by a strong ensemble cast which included Jonathan Rice who also played in Áine’s productions of Tuesday and Victoria Station & Family Voices and Sarah Gordy MBE, an extraordinary young actress with Downs Syndrome who has since appeared in TV’s Upstairs Downstairs and Call The Midwife.
Áine chose to emphasise the ‘Britishness’ in all of these tiny dramas, even ‘Mountain Language’, written originally in response to human rights abuses in Turkey. Union Jacks, real and projected, dominated the tiny stage, becoming more ripped and tattered with each new scene.
Áine’s simple line-drawn projected settings of sauce bottles, beer pumps and ashtrays gave the early scenes a comic feel, but when the drama grew darker, this became stark and ironic. A matchbox which was a comic prop in Last To Go became a threat of torture in The New World Order. The Union Jack bunting which decked the stage throughout became a garrotte in the final moments.
All the quintessentially British characters were played by a strong ensemble cast which included Jonathan Rice who also played in Áine’s productions of Tuesday and Victoria Station & Family Voices and Sarah Gordy MBE, an extraordinary young actress with Downs Syndrome who has since appeared in TV’s Upstairs Downstairs and Call The Midwife.
