The History of Production of the Works of Harold Pinter
The Homecoming (1964)
Harold Pinter
Play script
English
Set in an old house in north London, the home of an all-male family, presided over by the abusive patriarch, Max, alongside his mild-mannered brother, Sam. Max’s two sons, Lenny and Joey, make up this volatile household, where every man vies for supremacy. Into this highly charged atmosphere enter Teddy and Ruth. Teddy is Max’s eldest son, a Professor of Philosophy currently living in America with his wife, Ruth. Teddy has brought his wife home to visit the family for the first time since they married. From the outset, the fraught nature of their marriage is apparent. Recognising the competitive relationship between Max and his sons, Ruth begins to tease and provoke her in-laws as they taunt each other about their sexual prowess. Soon Max and Lenny hatch a plan to keep Ruth in London with them, earning her keep as a prostitute. Powerless, Teddy resolves to return to America and their three sons without his wife. The place concludes with Ruth seemingly the one now in control, her in-laws prostrated at her feet.
Browse productions of The Homecoming in the database
Date of Composition: 1963 - 1964
Linked Works
No Linked works have been added to this work record yet.
Linked Places
Hackney (Type of place: Place of inspiration)
Though no textual evidence supports this, The Homecoming might be considered to have been set in this part of London. As part of the preparations for the first production, Pinter took director Peter Hall to Hackney to meet a friend's father who, in Hall's eyes, resembled Max in the play. Lenny speaks of having helped out the 'borough council' with clearing snow one winter, but does not name the borough. Max recalls that he and his friend Mac being 'two of the worst hated men in the West End' which locates his memories on the other side of London, and hint at a gangland environment.
Confidence LevelThe West End (Type of place: Location (within the fiction))
In The Homecoming, Max recalls that he and his friend Mac, in his youth, were 'two of the worst hated men in the the West End of London'. To contemporary audences, this might have referenced the violence of gangs such as the Richardsons who had spread their influence and protection rackets to the West End from South London, and were rivals to the Krays of east London. The gang had a reputation for brutal violence, including cutting off victims' toes with bolt cutters.
Aberdeen (Type of place: Location (within the fiction))
In The Homecoming, Max recalls that his friend MacGregor's family came to London from Aberdeen
Sandown park racecourse (Type of place: Location (within the fiction))
Sandown park racecourse, Esher
In the opening scene of The Homecoming, Lenny asks his dad's opinion of the chances of the horse 'Second Wind' at the three-thirty race at Sandown Park.
Epsom Downs racecourse (Type of place: Location (within the fiction))
In The Homecoming, Max recollects knowing the course at Epsom 'like the back of my hand'.
Heathrow Airport (Type of place: Location (within the fiction))
In The Homecoming, Sam enters and explains he has driven a client to 'London Airport'. This is a reference to Heathrow Airport. The current text names the M4 as the route taken by Sam. Pinter's original script named the A4. Pinter would have been aware of the construction of the Chiswick flyover section in 1959 when he lived nearby on the High Road.
The Savoy Hotel (Type of place: Location (within the fiction))
The Savoy Hotel, Strand, London
Sam, a chauffeur, in The Homecoming states that he had picked up an American at the Savoy and driven him 'to the Caprice for lunch' and then to Eaton Square.
Le Caprice restaurant (Type of place: Location (within the fiction))
The restaurant that Sam's American client went to for lunch in The Homecoming. Le Caprice opened in 1947, run by Mario Gallati, and earned a significant reputation for fine dining through the 1960s. The current restaurant began in 1981, and is now owned (since June 2005) by Richard Caring.
Eaton Square, London (Type of place: Location (within the fiction))
In The Homecoming, Sam's American client visits a friend in Eaton Square. It might be concluded from subsequent dialogue that this could have been a liaison with a 'high-class' sex worker.
The Dorchester (Type of place: Location (within the fiction))
Max in The Homecoming suggests that his brother Sam might 'take a suite at The Dorchester' with any woman he might marry as an alternative to bringing her home. The Dorchester was and remains one of London's most exclusive hotels, so Max's suggestion is both sarcastic and passive aggressive.
The docks (Type of place: Location (within the fiction))
In The Homecoming, Lenny recounts for Ruth an incident 'down by the docks'. No doubt Pinter was referencing London's docklands.
Confidence LevelThe Ritz (Type of place: Location (within the fiction))
Lenny in The Homecoming claims that he and his friends discuss philosophical issues over a liqueur in bar at The Ritz.
Greek Street (Type of place: Location (within the fiction))
In The Homecoming, Teddy's family propose to set his wife Ruth up in rooms in Greek Street, where she might work as a sex worker.
Publishers
Samuel French Ltd on (January 1966)
French's Acting Edition. According to William Baker and John C. Ross, 'After first publication in 1966, it appeared with a revised text in 1968, and was further revised in 1975, after the Lord Chamberlain's censorship function [in the UK] was abolished. The changes involve the restoration of the original stage directions for the sequence in Act II in which Joey lies on top of Ruth on the sofa, and they then tumble to the floor with Joey still on top […] In the earlier French edition printings, they remain side-by-side on the sofa’ (Harold Pinter: A Bibliographical History, p. 49).
Dodd, Mead & Co. on (1967)
Part of an American anthology entitled The Best Plays of 1966-1967, edited by Otis L Guernsey Jr. Selected extracts from The Homecoming appear alongside passages of discursive prose describing characters, commenting upon the action, or summarising it. These extracts are prefaced by commentary about and from Pinter and, later in the anthology, details about selected American productions of the play.
Harcourt Brace College Publishers on (1993)
Part of an American Anthology entitled HBJ Anthology of Drama, The Homecoming appears on pp. 781-903, including an essay on the author and his work. In the 1996 extended edition The Homecoming on pp. 1078-1099.
Methuen on (17 March 1966)
Second edition. Realised in hardback on the 17/3/66 (priced at 12s 6d, reprinted in 1970) and in paperback on the 19/5/66 (priced at 6s). A revised version of the second edition paperback was published in August 1967 (still priced at 6s) and then reprinted in 1975, 1977, 1979 and 1980 by Eyre Methuen, and 1982, 1983 and 1986 by Methuen London Ltd.
Methuen on (10 June 1965)
First edition (hardback). Priced at 12s 6d with an initial print run of 4000 copies.
Grove Press on (24 February 1967)
American standard edition. First appeared in hardback in 1967 before multiple reprints in paperback, including printings from Evergreen publishers and a Book Club edition (estimated date of publication 1967).
Karnac & Curwen on (October 1968)
Limited edition. Designed by the artist Harold Cohen, it contains his lithographs alongside Pinter's text. Only 200 copies were printed and available for purchase. Each copy is numbered and signed by both Pinter and Cohen.
Easton Press on (June 2000)
Limited edition. Bound in brown leather with gold tooling, this collectors item had an estimated print run of 1500 copies. All copies are signed by Harold Pinter.
Methuen on (4 May 1978)
Included in Plays: Three. Also in the same volume: Mac (a memoire), Tea Party (television version), The Basement (television version), Landscape, Silence, Night, That's Your Trouble, That's All, Applicant, Interview, Dialogue for Three, Tea Party (a short story, with introductory note). Reprinted in 1986 by Methuen London Ltd; reprinted 1989 by Methuen Drama.
Faber and Faber Ltd on (21 January 1991)
Reprinted on the 1/10/93, 12/12/94, 1/7/96, 7/2/97, 1/2/98 and 18/6/99 totalling approximately 61,714 copies printed according to a Faber and Faber report issued on 1/8/01.
Faber and Faber Ltd on (1991)
Included in Plays: Three. Also in the same volume: Tea Party, The Basement, Landscape, Silence, Night, That's Your Trouble, That's All, Applicant, Interview, Dialogue for Three, Mac, Tea Party (short story). Reissued on 10/9/96 as Harold Pinter: Plays Three.
Faber and Faber Ltd on (2 December 1997)
Included in Harold Pinter: Plays Three, expanded edition. As well as the works included in the original 1991 edition of Plays Three, this edition included Old Times and No Man's Land. Reprinted 7/2/00, 19/3/01.
Grove Press on (15 June 1978)
Included in Harold Pinter: Complete Works: Three (Black Cat series). Also in the same volume: Tea Parry, The Basement, Landscape, Silence, Night, That's Your Trouble, That's All, Applicant, Interview, Dialogue for Three, Mac, Tea Party (short story).
Characters
Max (Age: 70, Male)
Lenny (Age: early thirties, Male)
Sam (The Homecoming) (Age: 63, Male)
Joey (Age: mid twenties, Male)
Teddy (Age: mid thirties, Male)
Ruth (The Homecoming) (Age: early thirties, Female)
Resources
Full text on Drama Online (URL)
Type: Script
External Link: https://www.dramaonlinelibrary.com/plays/the-homecoming-iid-129802
Subscription required
Sources
Stage Agent Website
http://stageagent.com/shows/play/6177/the-homecoming
URL
The summary of the play is taken and adapted from the Stage Agent website, a resource for theatre artists.
William Baker and John C. Ross' Harold Pinter: A Bibliographical History
William Baker and John C. Ross, Harold Pinter: A Bibliographical History (London and Delaware: The British Library and Oak Knoll Books, 2005)
Bibliography
This bibliographical history aims to provide as comprehensive and complete an account of the published writings, and other texts, wholly or partly authored by Harold Pinter from 1947 to October 2004.