Harold Pinter Archive Blog

East London united

2009-07-09T13:37:55+01:00

I’m just back from collecting the archive of the writer and critic John Berger. John generously donated his archive to the British Library’s collections, but on the (entirely reasonable, and enjoyable) condition that we come out to pick it up...

Harold Pinter & Joseph Losey

2009-06-15T12:12:03+01:00

Although the Nobel presentation speech concentrated wholly on Pinter's writing for the theatre, his work as a screenwriter is increasingly appreciated by scholars and audiences. Of all his work for that medium, nothing matches the brilliance of his work with...

Harold Pinter - A Celebration

2009-06-08T14:01:28+01:00

Hard to sum up last night’s Harold Pinter tribute at the National. Some of the best actors of our generation – including [deep breath] Eileen Atkins, David Bradley, Kenneth Cranham, Janie Dee, Andy de la Tour, Lindsay Duncan, Colin Firth,...

Pinter and Osborne?

2009-06-03T11:33:03+01:00

Began to do publicity for my new edition of two unknown, previously unpublished plays by John Osborne. Despite Look Back in Anger being commonly assumed to be Osborne’s overnight breakthrough debut, he had in fact written seven plays by 1956,...

Michael Young, Set Designer

2009-05-26T10:17:21+01:00

Early last week Jamie Andrews and I met with Michael Young, who was the set designer for Harold Pinter’s first London productions of The Room and The Dumb Waiter. These were performed in a double bill at the Hampstead Theatre...

Roger Planchon (1931-2009)

2009-05-17T22:16:40+01:00

Looking out from the balcony at the confusion of a biblically sodden Paris- like ants drunk on jam, commuters twist and twirl around the metro exit – the news of the death of Roger Planchon is announced on France-Inter. Planchon...

Pinter Celebrations

2009-05-08T12:32:40+01:00

An email from Harry Burton - who has done so much in recent months to continue the legacy of Harold Pinter, and who kindly interviewed Harold at our British Library conference last year - reminding me of a tribute in...

Romeo

2009-04-20T10:59:54+01:00

I got an email today from Binnie Yeates, whom I first met at the 'Artist and Citizen Conference: 50 Years of Performing Pinter' at the University of Leeds in 2007. Binnie acted in the 1948 production of Romeo and Juliet...

L'anniversaire

2009-03-03T10:21:14+00:00

In Paris for a few days, and a new production of L’Anniversaire (The Birthday Party). The venue was the Comédie des Champs-Élysées, just a few steps from the river, but (as so puzzlingly often with interesting theatre in Paris) resolutely...

One week to go...

2009-01-27T14:59:15+00:00

The Harold Pinter archive catalogue is being put on-line on Monday 2 February and should be fully visible by Tuesday 3 February. The collection number is Add MS 88880 and you should be able to search using that reference or...