Two
By Pinter:
‘The Lover’ & ‘The Collection’
Directed by Joyce Piven
October 12 - November 15, 2009 |
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“What
happens when a lover rewrites the rules of a fantasy?
The varied geometries of seduction are used to great
comic effect . . . even moments of slapstick have
a sensual gravitas.” – Time Out Chicago
“Joyce Piven's four actors prove devilishly adept
at the sexual role-playing that energizes
Pinter's artful deceptions.” – Chicago Reader
“Our theater community is fortunate that this lovely
little venue
continues to bring us quality productions . . . Having the
perfect
playwright and director with the right cast and crew makes
for a special night of theater for you, the audience.
The mystery is delicious.” - Steadstyle Chicago
Is
it all a game, or isn’t it? Flirting between sexual
fantasy and danger, acts of betrayal are turned upside down
in these two short plays by Nobel Prize-winning playwright
Harold Pinter. Founder and Artistic Director Emeritus Joyce
Piven returns to the Piven stage to explore the ambiguity
and sexual intrigue of The Lover and The Collection.
“We
are thrilled to begin the season with Founder/Artistic Director
Emeritus Joyce Piven directing two rarely-revived one acts
by Nobel Prize-winning author Harold Pinter with an incredible
ensemble boasting three Piven alums: Lawrence Grimm, Dana
Black, and Jay Reed,” says Artistic Director Jennifer
Green. “Two by Pinter pairs two extraordinary plays
The Lover and The Collection in a dark yet playful evening
that explores marital fantasies, domestic games, sexual
insecurities, and the modern marriage. Pinter turns his
slyly comic eye and trademark intensity on the modern relationship:
the lies that we tell and the truths that we choose to forget.”
Harold
Pinter (Playwright) was born October 10, 1930 in the London
borough of Hackney, son of a Jewish dressmaker. Growing
up, Pinter was met with the expressions of anti-Semitism,
and has indicated its importance for his becoming a dramatist.
At the outbreak of the Second World War, he was evacuated
from London at the age of nine, returning when twelve. He
has said that the experience of wartime bombing has never
lost its hold on him. Back in London, he attended Hackney
Grammar School where he played Macbeth and Romeo among other
characters in productions directed by Joseph Brearley. This
prompted him to choose a career in acting. In 1948 he was
accepted at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. In 1950,
he published his first poems. In 1951 he was accepted at
the Central School of Speech and Drama. That same year,
he won a place in Anew McMaster's famous Irish repertory
company, renowned for its performances of Shakespeare. Pinter
toured again between 1954 and 1957, using the stage name
of David Baron. Between 1956 and 1980 he was married to
actor Vivien Merchant. In 1980 he married the author and
historian Lady Antonia Fraser.
Pinter
made his playwriting debut in 1957 with The Room, presented
in Bristol. Other early plays were The Birthday Party (1957),
at first a fiasco of legendary dimensions but later one
of his most performed plays, and The Dumb Waiter (1957).
His conclusive breakthrough came with The Caretaker (1959),
followed by The Homecoming (1964) and other plays.
Harold
Pinter is generally seen as the foremost representative
of British drama in the second half of the 20th century.
That he occupies a position as a modern classic is illustrated
by his name entering the language as an adjective used to
describe a particular atmosphere and environment in drama:
"Pinteresque".
Since
1973, Pinter has won recognition as a fighter for human
rights, alongside his writing. Pinter has also written radio
plays and screenplays for film and television. Among his
best-known screenplays are those for The Servant (1963),
The Accident (1967), The Go-Between (1971) and The French
Lieutenant's Woman (1981, based on the John Fowles novel).
Pinter has also made a pioneering contribution as a director.
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