Comments | bec_87rb: Zoo and Harold Pinter

bec_87rb

Zoo and Harold Pinter

Jun 06, 2011 14:38

Interesting, exhausting weekend. Took in Old Days by Harold Pinter, written in 1971. One of those plays with only three actors, minimalist furniture, all white, and lots and lots of meaningful pauses to which you the audience are to attach Meaning. At the end of the play - in which the only real action is Kate and her husband Deeley receiving a ( Read more... )

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chhinnamasta June 7 2011, 12:20:18 UTC

Took in Old Days by Harold Pinter... One of those plays with only three actors, minimalist furniture, all white, and lots and lots of meaningful pauses to which you... are to attach Meaning.

Sounds very improving. Do you feel improved?

bec_87rb June 7 2011, 17:09:16 UTC

Man, it does sound a little improving, doesn't it? Possibly medicinal. It was well done - Deeley was Stephen Culp, and he is good utility actor, and Anna was Holly Twyford, who could hold her own - and I now can say I have seen this supposedly seminal work, and I can connect it to Pinter.

I feel more entertained than improved, I guess, and I only complain about the lack of clear resolution because I get used to good ol' Shakespeare, where you know that at the end you will see either a wedding or two or a stage littered with bodies, but either way, that sucker is wrapped up and all the mystery is explained. Mistaken identities are revealed, plot points untangled (mostly), but this is not that kind of play. Pinter is likewise lacking in swordplay, I note.

Another theory - Kate and Anna are two sides of the same woman. This makes lots of sense, given how it was staged.

Pinter is likewise lacking in swordplay, I note. chhinnamasta June 7 2011, 19:05:31 UTC

I always enjoy your wit :-)

I believe I've managed to escape seeing Pinter? I don't recall family members in any of his plays. Not to say they haven't been in any of them, but if they were, it must've been outside the context of mandatory viewing.

Ah, Steven Culp, not to be confused with Robert, who is a funny guy.

Re: Pinter is likewise lacking in swordplay, I note. suegypt June 7 2011, 19:53:18 UTC

I had a crush on Robert Culp when I was little. Sadly, he is no longer with us. A classy guy. Is Steven related?

Is Steven related? chhinnamasta June 7 2011, 19:57:33 UTC

Apparently not.

My first encounter with Robert Culp was watching The Greatest American Hero. God, I loved that show when I was a kid. What a fantastic idea: a guy with superpowers who doesn't know how to use them.

Re: Pinter is likewise lacking in swordplay, I note. bec_87rb June 7 2011, 20:10:32 UTC

No, definitely not Robert Culp, who was a funny guy, and who made a heck of a bad guy. I remember him on Columbo playing murderers. This Mr. Culp was less sparkly.

In re: swashbuckling. Tell me a little swordplay doesn't dress up a play. Bet your Dad was a regular Errol Flynn with a rapier. :)

Re: Pinter is likewise lacking in swordplay, I note. chhinnamasta June 7 2011, 20:20:22 UTC

Oh my god that made me laugh. My Dad's rapier brandishing days are so long past that I can't remember him prancing about the stage with one! Although, to be fair, I'm sure he knew what to do with one in his day. It's hard to think of one's Dad in swashbuckling terms, at the best of times, y'know?

Re: Pinter is likewise lacking in swordplay, I note. suegypt June 7 2011, 20:50:54 UTC

Was your dad an actor, or did he just like to swash his buckle on occasion?

Re: Pinter is likewise lacking in swordplay, I note. chhinnamasta June 7 2011, 20:54:41 UTC

I don't know what recreational swashbuckling he did (when the kids weren't around) but, yes, he did walk the boards.

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