The History of Production of the Works of Harold Pinter
A Kind of Alaska (1981)
Harold Pinter
Play script
English
A middle-aged woman who has been in a comatose state for thirty years as a result of contracting encephalitis lethargica awakes with a mind still that of a sixteen-year-old. Meanwhile her body has aged without her prior knowledge or consent. Her sister her sister's husband, who has been the 'sleeping' woman's devoted doctor over these three decades, attempt to ease her back to her current reality, while withholding some of the more jarring information.
Date of Composition: 1 December 1981
Linked Works
No Linked works have been added to this work record yet.
Linked Places
Townley Street (Type of place: Location (within the fiction))
In A Kind of Alaska the character of Deborah recalls how her sister had a relationship with 'that ginger boy from Townley Street'. There is no indication that Pinter was thinking of the real and only street of that name in London, or anywhere else. The play does not locate itself precisely, but the reference to a generic sounding street name might serve to help locate the play in the real world.
Bay of Bosphorus (Type of place: Location (within the fiction))
In A Kind of Alaska, Pauline tells her temporarily recovered sister Deborah that their parents ore on a work cruise that takes in The Indian Ocean, Bangkok and the Bay of Bosphorus. The trip is clearly fictitious, partly perhaps to explain the parents' not being their at her 'waking'.
Publishers
Methuen London Ltd on (14 October 1982)
Appears in 'Other Places: Three Plays', first edition.
Faber and Faber Ltd on (23 December 1993)
Published in Plays: Four. Reprinted on 30/10/1995, reissued in 10/9/1996. Expanded edition published 2/11/1998, reprinted 9/2/2001.
Characters
Deborah (Age: forties, Female)
Hornby (Age: early sixties, Male)
Pauline (Age: early forties, Female)
Resources
Full text on Drama Online (URL)
Type: Script
External Link: https://www.dramaonlinelibrary.com/plays/a-kind-of-alaska-iid-134582
Subscription required
Sources
Google Books
https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Other_places.html?id=ZQ5aAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y
URL
Publication details taken from webpage.