The History of Production of the Works of Harold Pinter
The Birthday Party (1960)
The Birthday Party (1957)
| Channel | ITV |
| Broadcast Date | 22 March 1960 |
| Broadcast time | 21:35:00 |
| Length (minutes) | |
| Black and White | Yes |
| Series | Play of the Week |
| Episode | |
| Broadcast Notes | |
| Description | Associated-Rediffusion production for ITV of Pinter’s The Birthday Party. This television première of the play was seen by 11 million viewers (Billington, p. 110). No archival recording of this production is known to exist. A note on the script: the work here is a dramatic play that is being relayed on television as a television play. We are unaware of any differences in dialogue between the broadcast text and the published text of the play. |
| Language | English |
Linked Productions
No linked Production have been added to this production record yet.
Linked People
Fred Pusey (1909 - 1983)
Creative | Designer
Joan Kemp-Welch (1906 - 1999)
Creative | Director
Ron Grainer (1922 - 1981)
Creative | Composer
Linked Organisations
Associated-Rediffusion (Production Company | Est. 1954)
Characters
Meg (Age: sixties, Female)
Withers reprised the role, which she had adopted the previous year at the Tower Theatre.
Performer: Margery Withers (1905 - 1999)
Petey (Age: sixties, Male)
Performer: Arthur Hewlett (1907 - 1997)
Lulu (Age: twenties, Female)
Performer: Bernadette Milnes (1930 - 2012)
Stanley (The Birthday Party) (Age: late thirties, Male)
Pearson was in the stage première of this work.
Performer: Richard Pearson (1918 - 2011)
Goldberg (Age: fifties, Male)
Performer: Lee Montague (1927)
McCann (Age: 30, Male)
Performer: Alfred Burke (1918 - 2011)
Linked Awards
No award have been added to this production record yet.
Resources
Mary Crozier, ‘Television’, Guardian, 23 March 1960 (URL)
Type: Review
External Link: https://www.proquest.com/docview/184626040/D851035B55664FE7PQ/37?accountid=14664
Subscription required
Sources
The Birthday Party database record
The Screen Plays Database, Learning on Screen website
Website
http://bufvc.ac.uk/screenplays/index.php/prog/448 (accessed 7 June 2018)
'A Simple Play: The Birthday Party on Television'
The Times, 23 March 1960, p. 16
Newspaper review
'Associated-Rediffusion presents Play of the Week: The Birthday Party'
The Times, 22 March 1960, p. 15
Newspaper advertisement
'Oedipus of the Sixth Form', by Maurice Richardson
The Observer, 27 March 1960, p. 25
Newspaper review
'Radio', by Mary Crozier
The Guardian, 25 March 1960, p. 11
Newspaper review
Passing mention in a review of a radio production of Pinter’s A Night Out.
The Birthday Party archive file (reference ART/133/1-2)
Associated-Rediffusion Television papers, Special Collections, BFI Reuben Library, BFI Southbank, London
Library archive
The Birthday Party listing
TV Times, 18 March 1960, p. 29
Magazine
The Birthday Party article
TV Times, 18 March 1960, p. 16
Magazine
'100 television stage plays: [3] ITV, 1955-1964', by John Wyver
Screen Plays: Theatre Plays on British Television website, published 28 August 2011
Blog article
https://screenplaystv.wordpress.com/2011/08/28/100-television-stage-plays-3-itv-1955-1963/ (accessed 7 June 2018)
Michael Billington's biography of Harold Pinter
Michael Billington, Harold Pinter, revised edition (London: Faber & Faber, 2007)
Biography
p. 110.