Harold Pinter

Harold Pinter, CH, CBE (born October 10, 1930) is an English playwright and theatre director. He has written for theatre, radio, television and film. His early work is often associated with the theatre of the absurd.

Early life and career

Pinter was born in Hackney in London, and briefly studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). He published poetry as a young man, and began working in the theatre as an actor, under the stage name David Baron. His first play, The Room, was first performed by Bristol University students in 1957.

Related Topics:
Hackney - London - Royal Academy of Dramatic Art - Poetry - Actor - Play - Bristol University - 1957

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The Birthday Party (1958) was initially a flop, despite a positive review, in the Sunday Times by leading theatre critic Harold Hobson, but following the success of The Caretaker in 1960, which established him, it was revived, and this time was well received. These plays, and other early works such as The Homecoming (1964), have sometimes been labelled as displaying the "comedy of menace". They often take an apparently innocent situation, and turn it into a threatening and absurd one by means of characters acting in ways which seem inexplicable both to the audience and, sometimes, to other characters. Pinter's work was marked by the influence of Samuel Beckett from the earliest works onwards, and the two men became long-standing friends.

Related Topics:
1958 - Harold Hobson - 1960 - 1964 - Samuel Beckett

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Pinter also worked as an actor under the name 'David Baron'.

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