The History of Production of the Works of Harold Pinter
The Birthday Party (Premiere: Lyric, Hammersmith) (1958)
The Birthday Party (1957)
| Date from |
28 April 1958
|
| Date to |
24 May 1958 Pinter's first London production was famously cut short after a series of poor reviews. It had only 8 performances in London. |
| No of Performances | Unknown |
| Premiere | Yes |
| Touring | Yes |
| Language | English |
Venues
Cambridge Arts Theatre (Est. 1936)
28-Apr-1958 to 03-May-1958
Programme 6 pence.
Performance times: Mon-Fri evenings at 20:00 and Sat at 20:15; matinees Th at 14:20 and Sat. 17:00.
Wolverhampton Grand Theatre (Est. 1894)
04-May-1958
Oxford Playhouse (Est. 1938)
11-May-1958
Main House, Lyric Theatre Hammersmith (Est. 1895)
19-May-1958 to 24-May-1958
8 performances including 1 Sat. matinee.
Linked Productions
No linked Production have been added to this production record yet.
Linked People
Peter Wood (1925 - 2016)
Creative | Director
Jay Hutchinson Scott (1924 - 1977)
Creative | Set Designer
As Hutchinson Scott
John Duke
Creative | Assistant Designer
E. Babbage & Co.
Technical | Set construction
Indicated in programme as 'Scenery built by'.
Alick Johnstone
Technical | Scene painter
Marjory Moss
Technical | Stage Manager
Lester Nixon
Technical | Deputy Stage Manager
Geraldine Newman
Technical | Assistant Stage Manager
Eric Dunning
Technical | Carpenter
Listed in programme as 'Master Carpenter'.
John Bretton
Production | Press Representative(s)
Michael Codron (1930)
Production | Presenter
For Talbot Productions.
David Hall
Production | Presenter
For Talbot Productions.
Linked Organisations
No Linked organisations have been added to this production record yet.
Characters
Stanley (The Birthday Party) (Age: late thirties, Male)
Performer: Richard Pearson (1918 - 2011)
Meg (Age: sixties, Female)
Performer: Beatrix Lehmann (1918 - 1979)
Petey (Age: sixties, Male)
Performer: Willoughby Gray (1916 - 1993)
Goldberg (Age: fifties, Male)
Performer: John Slater (1916 - 1975)
McCann (Age: 30, Male)
Performer: John Stratton (1925 - 1991)
Lulu (Age: twenties, Female)
Performer: Wendy Hutchinson (1937)
Linked Awards
No award have been added to this production record yet.
Resources
Original poster, in the V&A collection (Image)
Type: Poster
External Link: http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1304522/lyric-hammersmith-poster-poster-ae-king-jackson/
Flyer (Image)
Type: Flyer
M.W.W., 'The Birthday Party', The Manchester Guardian, 21 May 1958, p. 5 (URL)
Type: Review
External Link: https://www.proquest.com/docview/480284578/D281AB500041433CPQ/1?accountid=14664
Subscription required
Samantha Ellis, 'The Birthday Party, London 1958', The Guardian, 2 April 2003 (URL)
Type: Newspaper article
External Link: https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2003/apr/02/theatre.samanthaellis
Harold Hobson, 'From the Archive: Hated by critics, the new boy Harold Pinter', 22 March 2010 (URL)
Type: Review
External Link: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/from-the-archive-hated-by-critics-the-new-boy-harold-pinter-wjj2mssv8vp
A reprint of Harold Hobson's 1958 review of The Birthday Party. Subscription required.
Review of The Birthday Party by Irving Wardle, The British Library Collection (URL)
Type: Blog post
External Link: https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/review-of-the-birthday-party-by-irving-wardle
British Library blog with links to images of Irving Wardle, 'The Birthday Party', Encore, Vol. 5 no. 2, July–Aug 1958, pp. 39-40
Kenneth Tynan, 'Eastern Approaches', The Observer, 25 May 1958, p. 15 (URL)
Type: Review
External Link: https://www.proquest.com/docview/475366510/667CFC9C95C4482DPQ/5?accountid=14664
Subscription required
Sources
The Birthday Party at the Lyric Opera House, Hammersmith Production Programme
The British Library Modern Manuscripts, The Harold Pinter Archive, Add MS 88880/8/1, ff 33-36
Library archive
Information about performance times taken from programme.
Michael Simpson's 'The Birthday Party (Playhouse)', for ISIS, 12 May 1958
The British Library Modern Manuscripts, The Harold Pinter Archive, Add MS 88880/8/1, ff29
Library archive
Information about performance times taken fro production review.
The Birthday Party at the Cambridge Arts Theatre Production Programme
The British Library Modern Manuscripts, The Harold Pinter Archive, Add MS 88880/8/1, ff 15-19
Library archive
Information about 'Linked Persons', 'Characters' and performance times taken from programme.
S. D.-L.'s 'The Birthday Party', for the Wolverhampton Express, 5 May 1958
The British Library Modern Manuscripts, The Harold Pinter Archive, Add MS 88880/8/1, ff26
Library archive
Information about performance times taken from production review.