Shakespeare & Company Presents Trilogy of Harold Pinter One-acts June 11-August 2

Posted June 10, 2009

(CLICK HERE for production photos.)

{Lenox, MA}—Sometimes real meaning is found not in the words but in the spaces between them. This season Shakespeare & Company presents a carefully selected program of three darkly funny one-act plays by the late British playwright Harold Pinter, a Nobel Prize-winning legend who passed away at the end of 2008: Pinter’s Mirror, including A Slight Ache, Family Voices and Victoria Station. Featuring longtime Shakespeare & Company actors and training faculty Malcolm Ingram and Elizabeth Ingram, Pinter’s Mirror offers a priceless chance to see two master actors at the height of their craft as they dig into the darkly delicious pleasures of a brilliant playwright, one whose unflinching insights into the absurd humor underlying human communication are deeply resonant. Eric Tucker directs. Pinter’s Mirror plays June 11 to August 2. Press opening is June 13.

The Bernstein is air-conditioned and wheelchair accessible. Performances in the evenings run at 8:30 p.m. and in the afternoons at 3:00 p.m. Tickets range from $12 to $48. For a complete listing of productions and schedules, to inquire about student, Senior, Berkshire resident and Rush Tix, or to receive a brochure, please visit the website at www.shakespeare.org or call the Box Office at (413) 637-3353. For group visits, contact Group Sales Manager Victoria Vining at (413) 637-1199 ext. 132.

Pinter’s work is all about language, particularly in its keen insight into what happens when words fail and people find themselves struggling to connect. In Pinter’s world, a wry but very present humor lies under that failed communication, alongside a recognition of human limitations and the deeply personal challenge of what to do next. The term “Pinteresque” has been coined to describe the work of legions of playwrights influenced by Pinter’s perspective as well as his distinctive stylistic techniques, such as the use of pauses written into the play.

The Ingrams—British by birth, voice and acting teachers at Syracuse University, and steeped in S&Co.’s training methodologies putting an emphasis on clear delivery of language—are perfect candidates to dig into the work of this legendary playwright, whose work requires just the right nuance and sense of humor. The Ingrams are joined onstage by newcomer Steven Pilkington.

“This truly is Pinter as Pinter was meant to be,” Tucker says. “Malcolm and Elizabeth Ingram are two remarkable actors who are poised and ready to bring rare insight and truth to Pinter’s work.”

The three surprisingly funny plays in Pinter’s Mirror are A Slight Ache (1961), Family Voices (1981) and Victoria Station (1982). In the first, a married couple have their teatime disturbed by a mysterious visitor, one who silently prompts the husband to exhume his long-buried fears about the reality of his identity and the threat posed by the unknown. In the second, a mother, father and son (one of whom is deceased) communicate through letters in an attempt to make sense of their unusual relationship. In the third, filled with dark charm and growing menace, a London taxicab dispatcher and a driver strike up a surprising relationship over their radio, as the gaps of loneliness, confusion and earnest longing filling their lives surge to the forefront of their minds.

“We will focus on the text and the power of its stark language,” Tucker continues. “There is a poetic resonance throughout his work that is unmatched—it floats on a current of loss and longing, of miscommunication and mistrust and on the dreams and desires of its completely unique and complex characters.”

This production is complemented by Looking Into Pinter’s Mirror, a special event on June 28 at 5:30pm directed by Tucker that includes a dramatic illustration of Pinter’s impact on contemporary theatre. Tickets are $20 or $10 for patrons under age 25. Additionally, Tucker will dialogue about Pinter’s Mirror on July 21 at 5pm as part of Shakespeare & Company’s new Tuesday Talks, a series of intimate, freewheeling gatherings with directors and other artists involved with the season’s programming. Tickets are $6 each, or $32 for all eight Tuesday Talks.

Bios

Eric Tucker first season (Director of Pinter’s Mirror) Regional directing credits: Stella Adler Theatre: Hamlet (w/ William Hurt). Trinity Repertory Company: Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night. VCPA: Sanctuary (N. American Premiere), Man of La Mancha. Redlands Shakespeare Festival: Measure for Measure, Antony and Cleopatra, Hamlet. SFGT: Macbeth, Closer. Burning Coal: Watership Down (World Premiere). Beowulf: Angels in America Parts I & II, Saint Joan.

Elizabeth Ingram eleventh season (Women in Pinter’s Mirror; Text and Vocal Coach) S&Co: All’s Well That Ends Well (Countess of Roussillion), Merry Wives (Mistress Quickly), Enchanted April (Mrs. Graves), Coriolanus (Volumnia), Winter’s Tale (Paulina), Comedy of Errors (The Abbess), Mrs. Klein (Mrs. Klein), Inner House (Edith Wharton), Love’s Labour’s Lost (Holofernes), Maisie (Mrs.Wix). Berkshire Theatre Festival (Heartbreak House), Actors Theatre Louisville (All My Sons), Syracuse Stage (You Never Can Tell, My Fair Lady, Streetcar Named Desire, Christmas Carol), Company of Women (King Lear) England: London West End (Poor Bitos, The Chinese Prime Minister) +T.V. BBC, ITV, Theatre. Syracuse University faculty.

Malcolm Ingram* fourteenth season (Older Men in Pinter’s Mirror; Text and Vocal Coach) S&Co: Rough Crossing (Ivor), Blue/Orange (Robert), Enchanted April (Mellersh Wilton), The Merry Wives of Windsor (Falstaff), Much Ado About Nothing (Leonato), King Lear (Kent), Romeo and Juliet (Friar Lawrence), Private Eyes (Adrian), The Merchant of Venice (Antonio), Henry IV part 1 (King Henry), Virginia (Leonard), The Taming of the Shrew (Petruchio), Hamlet (Claudius), Twelfth Night (Toby Belch), and As You Like It (Touchstone). Broadway: Match, The Rivals. Berkshire Theater Festival: Rat in the Skull, Hay Fever. Actors Theater of Lousiville: All My Sons. StageWest: Someone To Watch Over Me. Syracuse Stage: My Fair Lady, The Crucible, Oliver. London: West End: Half Life, Dirty Linen, New Foundland, Popkiss. Royal Court: The Fool, Total Eclipse, Trixie and Baba. Joint Stock: Fourth Day Like Four Long Months of Absence. Riverside Studios: Julius Ceasar, As You Like It. The Roundhouse: The Glass Menagerie, Skyvers, Feast of Fools. Plus many other London fringe and regional theatre productions in the UK. TV: “The Camerons”, “Beloved Enemy”, “Clapperclaw”, “The Story of Ruth”. Most recent TV: “Chapelle’s Show” (Comedy Central).

Stephen Pilkington* first season (Younger Men in Pinter’s Mirror) Stephen is thrilled to be working with this wonderful company. New York Credits: Nights and Fights, Schemes and Dreams (The Public), Roderigo in Othello (American Globe). London: Lady Windermere’s Fan (Haymarket Theater, with Vanessa Redgrave directed by Sir Peter Hall). Chicago: Konstantin in The Seagull, Andrei Bolkonsky in War and Peace, Al Joad in Grapes of Wrath and Damis in Tartuffe. Regional: What You Will (Bristol Riverside Theater). Stephen is a graduate of Northern Illinois’ University MFA Acting Program. He has also trained with the Moscow Art Theater, Shakespeare & Company, The National Theater of Romania and most recently The Shakespeare Lab at The Public Theater. Special thanks to Tina, Sol and Elayne for their constant support.

At a Glance

Production: Pinter’s Mirror Theatre: Elayne P. Bernstein
Written by: Harold Pinter
Director: Erik Tucker

Cast: Elizabeth Ingram, Malcolm Ingram, Stephen Pilkington
Set Designer: Kiki Smith
Co-Set Designer Janet Kalas
lighting designer Greg Solomon
Costume Designer: Megan Moriarty
Sound Designer: Michael Pfeiffer

Performing: Previews: June 11, 12
Opens: June 13
Closes: August 2
tickets: $12-$48

Phone: (413) 637-3353
Email: boxoffice@shakespeare.org
Web: www.shakespeare.org
Fax (credit card orders only): (413) 637-4274

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