Epistle to the Pinterians for February 6, 2012

Posted on February 3, 2012 by

My dear Pinterians,

Over the course of almost three years, since the first Fortnightly in March of 2009, we’ve been getting together from time to time to explore the unique dramatic landscapes of Harold Pinter. As you probably know, the upcoming reading of Old Times on Monday, February 6 at 7pm in ACT’s Bullitt Cabaret will be the last Fortnightly prior to the Festival of Pinter plays to be staged at ACT in July and August of this year. I will be heavily involved in preparations for the Festival, which necessitates putting the reading series on hiatus for the time being. But the plan is to bring it back in the fall after the dust from the Festival has settled. Thegold dust, that is.

But when the series resumes, will it still be devoted to further Pinter investigations, one may wonder? Well, the fact is we have covered virtually all of the plays written specifically for the theatre. There are three works–A Night Out, The Basement, and Tea Party–all written originally for television which we haven’t covered, but I’m not convinced (yet) that they would comfortably lend themselves to the style of presentation we’ve developed after 25 evenings of readings together. That doesn’t preclude the possibility that one might figure out an effective way to present them–and each one does have its compelling moments–but that will bear further contemplation.

Which begs the question: What might your humble curator have in mind for future installments of Pinter (Or Whomever) Fortnightly? Well, I do have a few ideas percolating. I would love to present more Doug Lucie, whose Grace we gave to considerable audience approval last July and who has been commissioned by ACT to write a new play. (Word has it that it will be about the little election event to take place on this side of the pond in November.) I have also thought about a series devoted to plays relating, in various ways, to that most horrific occurrence of recent history, the Holocaust. Two possible choices–Robert Shaw’s The Man in the Glass Boothand Ronald Harwood’s Taking Sides–Pinter had a hand in developing and first directing. Others might be Tim Blake Nelson’sThe Gray Zone; a one-man version of Primo Levi’s memoirs put together by the distinguished actor Antony Sher, Primo; and a little-known but much-admired play by Arthur Miller, Broken Glass.

What I can tell you is that come October the Fortnightly series will resume and will very much follow the format we have established together as theatre artisans and devoted audience. I will keep you informed over the course of the coming months; we will assuredly be doing more together.

But back to the next Pinter Fortnightly, our reading of Old Times on Monday. It may be my personal favorite of all Harold’s plays. It was the second play we presented–back in April 2009–when we had just begun our joint journey. But at that time there were only, perhaps, forty of you. Now that the ranks of Pinterians have swollen to unimagined proportions I want to share Old Times with you again. Also, since it’s going to be one of the major productions in the summer Festival, our reading will serve as a useful introduction to what some regard as a particularly elusive and, at times, confounding play. That the work is also very funny, mind-tickling, suggestively sexy and finally quite moving is also true. As a possible “way in” to Old Times in advance, I’ve decided to depart from past protocols and attach to this epistle my program notes for the evening (which will also be in print form on Monday night). Also, we’re attaching a roster of all the plays and pieces and all the actors and directors who have participated in the Fortnightlies since the series began.

I am immensely grateful to all who have participated in these twenty-five evenings. Your continued support and loyalty have made it possible for me to do, in all humility , the best work I’ve ever done.

Roster of Readings

Program Notes for Old Times

Many, many thanks,

Frank Corrado

(P.S. Once again, the reading takes place on Monday at 7pm in the Bullitt Cabaret. Tickets can be reserved by calling the ACT Box Office at 206-292-7676.)

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  Epistle to the Pinterians for Monday, January 23, 2012

Posted on January 18, 2012 by

Photo by Jean Sherrard

Greetings from wintry Pinterland!

Dear Friends,

First, a word of thanks to all who attended the last Pinter Fortnightly—January 9—the presentation of Harry Burton’s superb documentary “Working With Pinter.” Equally, a note of regret to those of you who couldn’t attend. While the film itself was a richly fulfilling experience, the conversation that followed, given over to almost an hour and a half of recollections, reflections, reminiscences and anecdotes shared by Mr. Burton and Pinter’s childhood friend and career-long colleague in the theatre the great Henry Woolf, was an unqualified rare treat. Indeed, several patrons expressed to me their feeling that it was almost like having Pinter himself in the room.
(Ah, if only…) We’re hoping that the estimable Mr. Burton and Mr. Woolf can be coaxed back to Seattle for a return engagement during the summer Pinter festival.

So the next Fortnightly, on Monday, January 23rd at 7p.m. in the Bullitt Cabaret at ACT, has a tough act to follow. As you may recall, I had hoped to present another play by Doug Lucie in this slot: Mr. Lucie’s disquieting and trenchantly funny take on the unholy alliance of politics and advertising, Fashion. Unfortunately, for one reason and another, I could not assemble a cast that I thought would do full justice to the specific demands of the play, so I plunged back into the Pinter oeuvre and came up with what I believe will be an intriguing and entertaining evening: a collection of pieces new to the series presented by a cast of marvelous actors.

In the course of the two dozen Fortnightlies to date, we have all but exhausted the works Pinter composed initially and specifically for the theatre. What we haven’t touched on so far are pieces that inhabit a kind of gray area. To wit, works first produced on TV and radio. There are three, in my view, of particular note: A Night Out, The Basement, and Night School. Of these, I think Night School will work best in the context of a staged reading, and I’ve chosen it to start the proceedings on Monday night.

Night School is an extremely funny tale about a hapless ex-con, his two dotty maiden aunts and a young woman to whom the aunts have rented out their nephew’s room while he was away for his latest stretch in the penitentiary. Needless to say, much amusing hell breaks loose when the nephew returns home to find his room inhabited by the young woman. That the young woman turns out to be by night something other than the school teacher she claims to be by day makes for characteristically twisted and mysterious fun.

The second half of the evening consists of several brief but savory tidbits: Night, a rather sweet and poetic love duet with an ironically erotic charge, followed by three of Pinter’s delightfully pungent revue sketches: The Black and White, Request Stop and Last To Go. We presented several of Pinter’s other revue sketches last year, some of you may remember, in a particularly memorable evening that included his last and most hilarious play Celebration. ACT will be producing Celebration this coming summer in the Pinter Festival and will also be devoting an evening to all of the revue sketches, so Monday night’s offering will provide a tantalizing sneak preview of things to come.

But wait, there’s more! We’ll end the evening with a wonderfully zany monologue called Tess, which more or less defies rational description altogether; it’s as if someone had dropped a stream-of-consciousness-inducing substance into Pinter’s bubbly and thereby loosed the comic muse. But don’t take my word for it; come and experience it yourself.

The delicious cast consists of Pinter Fortnightly veterans Joshua Carter, Sean Griffin, Gretchen Krich, Billie Wildrick and, maybe not so deliciously, me. And I am thrilled to announce the debut appearance in the series of the superb Jeanne Paulsen.

I am also delighted to have that noted Anglophile and former ACT Artistic Director Jeff Steitzer on board to direct Night School. My invaluable colleague Jane Kaplan, the series’ Resident Director, will lead us through Night and the revue sketches.

I hope you can all make it; I think you’ll have a good time.

Once again, the reading is on Monday, January 23 at 7pm in the Bullitt Cabaret at ACT. Call the ACT Box Office at 206-292-7676 to reserve tickets. Tell them Frank sent you and they’ll probably sell you a seat anyway.

Thanks for being the best audience anywhere and ever!

Yours in Harold,

Frank Corrado

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