The History of Production of the Works of Harold Pinter
Ashes to Ashes (1996)
Harold Pinter
Play script
English
In the living room of a pleasant house in a university town outside of London, Devlin, threatened by his wife Rebecca's recollections of an abusive ex-lover, questions her relentlessly in his need for a single truth. In her seamless blending of what she knows of violence with the wider violence of the world, Rebecca reveals an eerie communion with the dead victims of unnamed political barbarities.
Browse productions of Ashes to Ashes in the database
Date of Composition: 24 January 1996 - 6 February 1996 Confidence Level
Linked Works
No Linked works have been added to this work record yet.
Linked Places
Dorset (Type of place: Location (within the fiction))
In Ashes to Ashes, Rebecca recalls witnessing a crowd of people being led out to sea to drown off the coast of Dorset.
Publishers
Faber and Faber Ltd on (20 September 1996)
Characters
Rebecca (Age: forties, Female)
Devlin (Age: forties, Male)
Resources
Full text on Drama Online (URL)
Type: Script
External Link: https://www.dramaonlinelibrary.com/plays/ashes-to-ashes-iid-134614
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Sources
Antonia Fraser's book on her life with Harold Pinter
Antonia Fraser, Must You Go?: My Life with Harold Pinter (London: Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 2010)
Published diary
On pp. 213-16 Fraser reports the progress of composition.
Google Books
https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Ashes_to_Ashes.html?id=DTzglIdKaHMC&redir_esc=y
URL
The summary provided above is retrieved from the website, and originally comes from the back cover of the Grove edition of the play (1997).
Harold Pinter Appointments Diary, 1996
The British Library Modern Manuscripts, The Harold Pinter Archive, Add MS 88880/12/29
Library archive
Information about dates of composition taken from entry for 24 January, where 'Start "Ashes to Ashes"' appears and is encircled, and the entry for 6 February which indicates 'Finish "Ashes to Ashes"'.
William Baker's Bibliography of Harold Pinter
William Baker, Harold Pinter: A Bibliographical History (London and New castle: The British Library and Oak Knoll Press, 2005)
Bibliography