In true Pinteresque fashion, this production is both disturbing and unsettling.
Jane Horrocks as Meg in The Birthday Party | Photo © Foteini Christofilopoulou
So many unanswered questions about the characters and the continual questioning of what is real; or is the ordered routine of their lives simply self-protection?
Stanley, an unemployed pianist, leads a mundane but peaceful life as the only guest living at Meg and Petey’s seaside boarding house.
When the deeply sinister Goldberg and McCann arrive to celebrate his birthday party, the door is thrown open to the stuff of nightmares. The party unsurprisingly descends into brutal chaos.
Jane Horrocks is Meg, her gentle naivety and order brings humour and pathos. It is a beautifully constructed performance which holds the audience throughout. The slightest hint of her past and her need for Petey and Stanley brings a sense of purpose to her world.
Sam Swainsbury is the complex and complicated Stanley. It is hard to believe he was a pianist and the sense of foreboding and hiding away from a past is also prevalent. His behaviour is erratic and terrifying, but none of this is truly acknowledged.
Carla Harrison-Hodge as Lulu, a damaged, flirtatious young woman without any real boundaries brings a strong presence to the role. There is an immediate fear for her safety in the hands of the visitors but the lightness of touch brings greater terror.
John Marquez as Goldberg and Caolan Byrne as Mccann are a mix of gangster and smooth talk, their past unexplained but the safety and routine of the boarding house is thrown into tension and conflict.
Nicolas Tennant as Petey, protecting Meg’s safe world, is utterly stoic throughout.
It is challenging and performances rise to the oppressive staging and intimate atmosphere of the Ustinov.
For a Pinter fan, it magnifies the absurd nature of the script and Stanley’s decline is both grotesque and gruesome.
Another hit from the Ustinov and will no doubt be spoken about for a long while, if only to try and work out the answers to the many questions.
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Reviewer: Petra Schofield
