'Have you heard the latest?'
Dear Reader, it is obvious to me that you have good taste. You have extraordinarily good taste, I should say. That is because you are following the thrilling chronicle of a production of Harold Pinter’s The Birthday Party. Welcome to The Pinter Report. Firsthand news from the Pinterlands...here. Exclusive. You know.
Tomorrow is the first read for The Birthday Party. I'm Lulu. Girl next door, you know. Very chirrupy sort of girl. Fresh air. Cheese sandwiches. Well scrubbed. But the more I study her lines the more authoritative and mocking her language seems. 'You're not to touch it.'
PINTER POINT: The very first production of The Birthday Party was an absolute flop. Pinter was supposedly pitied by an usher in the balcony, ‘Are you the playwright? Oh, you poor dear.’ That was in 1958.
Dear Reader of good taste, Craig Noel produced The Birthday Party at the Old Globe not so long after in 1967. And guess what. Shall I tell you? Have you heard already? Have you guessed? That was the last full, professional production San Diego has had of The Birthday Party. Nearly 50 years ago. 48, to be exact, now stop doing the math in your head. Good.
That’s one of the big reasons this production is happening. Because it may have been a flop when it opened, but it is now considered a GREAT play. Dare we say it? A masterpiece. And you deserve to see it! So we are putting it on.
