Harold Pinter

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Harold Pinter during his Nobel Prize lecture in December 2005

Harold Pinter , CH , CBE (born October 10, 1930 in London , England ; † December 24, 2008 ibid) was a British playwright , director and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature 2005. He has written for theater , radio , television and films . Many of his early works are counted among the theater of the absurd .

life and work

Pinter was born in Hackney in the East End of London. His parents were Jews of Eastern European descent , his father Jack Haim Pinter was a tailor, his mother Frances Moskowitz a housewife. Pinter believed - probably erroneously - that his ancestors on his father's side were Sephardic Jews and that his name was derived from the Portuguese name Pinto . Pinter grew up in the proletarian East End of London. When he was drafted into the military in 1948 , he refused military service. As a young man he published poems and acted in theater. He dropped out of his scholarship- funded studies at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London to wander around with a touring stage that performed Shakespeare plays in Ireland.

His first play, The Room (Room) he wrote in 1957. That same year he began work on the play The Birthday Party (Birthday Party) , which, however, was not a success, although by the Sunday Times was praised. He had his breakthrough with the play The Caretaker ( Der Hausmeister ) , which premiered in 1960. Three decades followed in which he was one of the most played and influential British playwrights. In addition to plays, he wrote screenplays (including for directors such as Joseph Losey , Elia Kazan , Robert Altman , Volker Schlöndorff and Paul Schrader ), radio and television plays and the novel Die Zwerge , directed and worked as an actor for film and theater.

In the 1980s, Harold Pinter was openly political. In 1985 he traveled with the American playwright Arthur Miller in Turkey , where they met with victims of political oppression. Pinter's experience of oppression of the Kurdish language inspired him to his published in 1988 play Mountain Language (Mountain Language) . His public defense of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević , who was charged with genocide and crimes against humanity before the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague , drew international criticism. Pinter was also involved in campaigns against the Iraq war .

Drawing by Reginald Gray , New Statesman Obituary, Jan. 12, 2009

It is controversial whether the lack of clarity and opacity of the world in Pinter's early plays is reason enough to attribute his works to the theater of the absurd . At least one can argue that it is not his pieces that are absurd, but the circumstances in which the characters in his pieces live. Pinter's famous earlier works in particular are saturated with reality and provide insight into poor and socially oppressive living conditions. Often Pinter's characters themselves do not know what motifs they are following. The last sentences of old Davies in Pinter's play “The Caretaker”, who tries to squeeze into the security of a strange room, show how little self-assurance he has left: “What should I do? Where should I go?"

Pinter has received numerous awards for his work, including the Austrian State Prize for European Literature (1973), the Laurence Olivier Award (1996) and England's most important literary prize, the David Cohen Prize (1995). In 2001 Pinter was awarded the Hermann Kesten Medal ; On October 13, 2005, he received the Nobel Prize for Literature : "In his dramas, Pinter exposed the abyss beneath the everyday chatter and broke into the closed space of oppression," the statement said. Since he was unable to attend the Nobel Prize ceremony in Stockholm in person due to illness , a video of his acceptance speech recorded the day before was shown. The video showed a pinter, seriously ill with cancer , who used the publicity of the occasion to raise violent allegations against the US President and the British Prime Minister: he called George W. Bush a mass murderer in connection with the Iraq war and Tony Blair a "poor lunatic" ("Deluded idiot") . In October 2005 he received the annual Franz Kafka Prize from the Franz Kafka Society in Prague , which his friend Václav Havel accepted in his place. In 2006 he received the Premio Europa per il Teatro . He was also a member a. a. the Academy of Arts in (West) Berlin (1982), the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1984) and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1985).

After the Nobel Prize was awarded, Pinter's pieces were once again included in the repertoire of many stages, especially in Great Britain, with his early works in particular enjoying outstanding productions half a century after their creation and receiving a great response from critics and audiences. After many years, Pinter himself appeared again in October 2006 at the Royal Court Theater in London as an actor in Samuel Beckett's The Last Tape (Krapp's Last Tape) . All nine performances were sold out within a few hours.

Pinter died of throat cancer on December 24, 2008 .

Work on films

Pinter wrote his first screenplay The Servant in 1963. He later wrote screenplays, among others, for Accident - Incident in Oxford (1967), The Mediator , The Beloved of the French Lieutenant (1981), Turtle Diary (1985), based on the novel by Russell Hoban , the handmaid's tale (the handmaid's tale) (1990), the trial (1993), based on the novel the process of Franz Kafka . He also published a screenplay for Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time , which was not made into a film. Some of Pinter's plays have also been adapted for the cinema: Der Hausmeister (1963), The Birthday Party (1968), The Homecoming (1973) and Fraud (1983). He was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Adapted Screenplay category for his work on The French Lieutenant's Beloved and Fraud . For the film adaptation of his play The Caretaker , he took over the costs of production in 1963 together with the actors Donald Pleasence , Alan Bates , the director Clive Donner and other prominent donors after other donors had dropped out. He himself made a brief appearance in the film.

Occasionally, Pinter took on film roles himself (including in The Servant 1963, Accident 1967, Turtle Diary 1985, Mansfield Park 1999 and The Tailor of Panama 2001). Most recently, Pinter developed the script for the film 1 Mord für 2 based on the play Sleuth ( revenge or murder with small mistakes ) by his colleague Anthony Shaffer , which was remade in 2007 by Kenneth Branagh with Jude Law and Michael Caine .

effect

Pinter in the headlines

In 1977 Pinter hit the headlines after leaving his wife, actress Vivien Merchant , with whom he had been married since 1956, for Lady Antonia Fraser , the eldest daughter of the 7th Earl of Longford . After Pinter's divorce, the couple married in 1980. Pinter's play Betrayal (Fraud) from 1978 was read in this context on various occasions as a representation of this liaison; Rather, however, it is based on an earlier affair that linked Pinter with television presenter Joan Bakewell for seven years .

Later, a public dispute with theater director Peter Hall caused a sensation, who portrayed Pinter as a notorious drinker in his 1983 diaries. However, Pinter and Hall managed to restore their friendly relationship.

Pinter was a huge fan of the English national sport of cricket . He was chairman of the Gaieties cricket club until his death .

In the literature

In the short story Save the Reaper (1998) by Alice Munro there is a fictional cameo by Harold Pinter, when during the scene in a shabby dwelling with drunk men the reflective ability of the protagonist Eve is described thanks to literature reading and stage experience where it means: “she thought about how she would describe it all - she would say it was as if she had suddenly found herself in the middle of a piece by Pinter. Or like their worst nightmares of a stubborn, hostile audience. ”Munro gave the boss in the dwelling the first name of the playwright and Nobel Prize colleague, Harold.

In politics

Pinter had a firm opinion on political issues. His Nobel lecture "Art, Truth and Politics" consisted in large part of the condemnation of the United States' covert, illegal war against the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua and the illegal war in Iraq, mainly led by the USA and Great Britain. The invasion of Iraq was an act of banditry, an act of undisguised state terrorism that demonstrated absolute contempt for the principle of international law. The western media had covered the criminal wars of their governments through a kind of hypnosis of the western population. “The invasion was an arbitrary military operation, triggered by a whole mountain of lies and the bad manipulation of the media and thus the public; an act to consolidate America's military and economic control in the Middle East under the guise of liberation, the last resort after all other justifications could not be justified. An impressive demonstration of a military power responsible for the death and mutilation of thousands upon thousands of innocent people. We have brought torture, cluster bombs, depleted uranium, countless arbitrary murder, misery, humiliation and death to the Iraqi people and we call it "Bringing Freedom and Democracy to the Middle East." How many people do you have to kill to earn the title of mass murderer and war criminal? One hundred thousand? More than enough, I think. So it is only fair that Bush and Blair come before the International Criminal Court. "

Plays

(U = world premiere, DSE = first performance in German)

  • 1957 The Room , U: 15th May 1957, University Drama Department, Bristol, directed by Henry Woolf
    • Das Zimmer , German by Willy H. Thiem, DSE: September 6, 1965, Kleines Theater , Bonn-Bad Godesberg, director: Carlheinz Caspari
  • 1957 The Birthday Party , U: 28th April 1958, Cambridge Arts Theater, directed by Peter Wood
  • 1957 The Dumb Waiter , U: February 28, 1959, Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt , director: Anton Krilla; English premiere: January 1, 1960 Hampstead Theater London, directed by James Roose-Evans
    • The dumb servant , German by Willy H. Thiem
  • 1958 A Slight Ache , first broadcast as radio play: July 29, 1959, BBC, director: Donald McWhinnie; U: 18th January 1961 Arts Theater London, directed by Donald McWhinnie
  • 1958 The Hothouse , U: 24th April 1980, Hampstead Theater, London, directed by Harold Pinter
  • 1959 The Caretaker , U: 27th April 1960, Arts Theater, London, directed by Donald McWhinnie
  • 1959 sketches:
    • The Black and White
    • Trouble in the Works
    • Last to go
    • Special offer
    • That's your trouble
    • That's all
    • interview
    • Applicant
    • Dialogue Three
  • 1959 A Night Out , first broadcast as radio play: March 1, 1960, BBC, director: Donald McWhinnie; U: 17th September 1961 Gate Theater , Dublin, directed by Leila Blake
    • One night away from home , German by Willy H. Thiem, DSE: October 22, 1962, Stadttheater Konstanz , director: Klaus Schrader
  • 1960 Night School , first broadcast as televised play: July 21, 1960, Associated Rediffusion-TV, directed by Joan Kemp-Welch
    • Evening course , German by Willy H. Thiem, German first broadcast: July 13, 1966, ZDF, director: Rainer Wolffhardt
  • 1960 The Dwarfs , first broadcast as radio play: December 2, 1960, BBC, director: Barbara Bray; U: 18th September 1963, Arts Theater, London, directed by Harold Pinter, Guy Vaesen
    • Die Zwerge , German by Willy H. Thiem, DSE: December 21, 1980, Theater im Weinhaus, Munich
  • 1961 The Collection , first broadcast as a television play: May 11, 1961, Associated Rediffusion-TV, director: Joan Kemp-Welch; U: 18th June 1962, Aldwych Theater, London, directed by Peter Hall, Harold Pinter
  • 1962 The Lover , first broadcast as a television play: March 28, 1963, Associated Rediffusion-TV, director: Joan Kemp-Welch; U: 18th September 1963, Arts Theater, London, directed by Harold Pinter
  • 1964 Tea Party , first broadcast as a televised play: 25 March 1965, BBC, director: Charles Jarrott; U: October 10, 1968, Eastside Playhouse, New York, directed by James Hammerstein
    • Tea party , German from Willy. Thiem, German first broadcast as a television play: April 20, 1968, Radio Bremen, director: Rainer Wolffhardt
  • 1964 The Homecoming , U: 3rd June 1965, Royal Shakespeare Company / Aldwych Theater, London, directed by Peter Hall
  • 1966 The Basement , first broadcast as televised play: 20 February 1967, BBC, director: Charles Jarrott, U: 10 October 1968, Eastside Playhouse, New York, director: James Hammerstein
    • Lower ground floor , German by Willy H. Thiem, DSE: October 18, 1972, Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt / M., Director: Peter Palitzsch
  • 1967 Landscape , U: 2nd July 1969, Royal Shakespeare Company / Aldwych Theater, London, directed by Peter Hall
    • landscape
  • 1968 Silence , U: 2nd July 1969, Royal Shakespeare Company / Aldwych Theater, London, directed by Peter Hall
    • Schweigen, German by Renate and Martin Esslin, DSE: January 10, 1970, Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg, director: Hans Schweikart
  • 1969 Night (Sketch)
  • 1970 Old Times , U: 1st June 1971, Royal Shakespeare Company / Aldwych Theater, London, directed by Peter Hall
    • Alte Zeiten , German by Renate and Martin Esslin, DSE: April 29, 1972, Thalia Theater Hamburg , director: Hans Schweikart
  • 1972 Monologue , first broadcast as a television play: April 13, 1973, BBC, director: Christopher Morahan
    • Monologue , German by Renate and Martin Esslin, DSE: November 24, 1979, Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt / M.
  • 1974 No Man's Land , U: 23 April 1975, National Theater / Old Vic Theater , London, directed by Peter Hall
  • 1978 Betrayal , U: 15th November 1978, National Theater, London, directed by Peter Hall
  • 1980 Family Voices , first broadcast as radio play: January 22, 1981, director: Peter Hall; U: February 13th 1981, National Theater, London, directed by Peter Hall
  • 1982 Victoria Station , U: 14 October 1982, National Theater, London, directed by Peter Hall
    • Victoria Station , German by Heinrich Maria Ledig-Rowohlt, DSE: June 5, 1984, Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, director: Peter Palitzsch
  • 1982 A Kind of Alaska , U: October 14, 1982 National Theater , London, directed by Peter Hall
    • A kind of Alaska , German by Heinrich Maria Ledig-Rowohlt, DSE: June 5, 1984, Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, director: Peter Palitzsch
  • 1983 Precisely (Sketch), U: 18th December 1983, Apollo Victoria Theater, London, directed by Harold Pinter
    • Exactly , in German by Heinrich Maria Ledig-Rowohlt, DSE: May 8, 1986, Schauspiel Bonn , director: Peter Palitzsch
  • 1984 One For the Road , U: 15th March 1984, Lyric Theater, London, directed by Harold Pinter
    • One more last , German by Heinrich Maria Ledig-Rowohlt, DSE: January 18, 1986, Staatstheater Stuttgart , director: Dieter Giesing
  • 1988 Mountain Language , U: 20th October 1988, National Theater , London, directed by Harold Pinter
  • 1991 The New World Order , U: 9 July 1991, Royal Court Theater, London, directed by Harold Pinter
  • 1991 Party Time , U: 31st October 1991, Almeida Theater , London, directed by Harold Pinter
    • Party-Time , German by Heinrich Maria Ledig-Rowohlt, DSE: December 5, 1991, Schauspielhaus Zürich , director: Peter Palitzsch
  • 1993 Moonlight , U: 7th September 1993, Almeida Theater, London, directed by David Leveaux
    • Mondlicht , German by Elisabeth Plessen and Peter Zadek , DSE: April 20, 1995, Thalia Theater Hamburg in coproduction with the Berliner Ensemble, director: Peter Zadek
  • 1996 Ashes to Ashes , U: 19 September 1996, Royal Court Theater , London, directed by Harold Pinter
    • Asche zu Asche , German by Michael Walter, DSE: March 15, 1997, Theater Basel , director: Peter Palitzsch
  • 1999 Celebration , March 16, 2000 Almeida Theater, London, directed by Harold Pinter
    • Celebration , German by Michael Walter, March 28, 2001, Thalia Theater Hamburg, director: Stephan Kimmig
  • 2000 Remembrance of Things Past (stage version of the script by Pinter based on the novel by Marcel Proust, edited by Pinter and Di Trevis) D: November 2000, National Theater, London, directed by Di Trevis
    • In search of lost time , German by Ingrid Rencher, DSE: November 8, 2003, Theater Dortmund , director: Hermann Schmidt-Rahmer
  • 2002 Press Conference (Sketch)
    • Press conference , German by Michael Walter

prose

  • 1949 Kullus
  • 1952-1956 The Dwarfs
  • 1953 Latest Reports from the Stock Exchange
  • 1954/55 The Black and White
  • 1955 The Examination
  • 1963 Tea Party
  • 1975 The Coast
  • 1976 problem
  • 1977 Lola
  • 1995 short story
  • 1995 girls
  • 1999 Sorry About This
  • 1997 God's District
  • 2000 Tess
  • 2001 Voices in the Tunnel

Awards

literature

  • Martin Esslin: Harold Pinter. dtv, Munich 1976, ISBN 3-423-06838-8 .
  • Rüdiger Imhoff: Harold Pinters drama technique. Bouvier, Bonn 1976, ISBN 3-416-01247-X .
  • Ronald Knowles: Understanding Harold Pinter. University of South Carolina Press, Columbia 1995, ISBN 1-57003-044-8 .
  • Michael Billington: The life and work of Harold Pinter. Faber and Faber, London 1996, ISBN 0-571-17103-6 .
  • Peter Raby (Ed.): The Cambridge companion to Harold Pinter. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2001, ISBN 0-521-65123-9 .
  • Peter Münder: Harold Pinter. Rowohlt, Reinbek 2006, ISBN 3-499-50694-7 .
  • William Baker: Harold Pinter. Continuum, London 2008, ISBN 978-0-8264-9971-4 .
  • Antonia Fraser: Must you go? My life with Harold Pinter. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London 2010, ISBN 978-0-297-85971-0 .

Web links

Wikiquote: Harold Pinter  - Quotes
Commons : Harold Pinter  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Obituaries

Individual evidence

  1. ^ German translation by Heidi Zerning. In the English-language original it says: “she was thinking how she would describe this - she'd say it was like finding yourself in the middle of a Pinter play. Or like all her nightmares of a stolid, silent, hostile audience. "
  2. ↑ http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2005/pinter-lecture-g.html
personal data
SURNAME Pinter, Harold
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British playwright and director, Nobel Prize for Literature
DATE OF BIRTH October 10, 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH London , England, UK
DATE OF DEATH December 24, 2008
Place of death London , England, UK