Updated edition of this popular Companion examining the wide range of Pinter's work, and his continuing impact and influence.

Harold Pinter was one of the world's leading and most controversial writers, and his impact and influence continues to grow. This Companion examines the wide range of Pinter's work - his writing for theatre, radio, television and screen, and also his highly successful work as a director and actor. Substantially updated and revised, this second edition covers the many developments in Pinter's career since the publication of the first edition, including his Nobel Prize for Literature win in 2005, his appearance in Samuel Beckett's play Krapp's Last Tape and recent productions of his plays. Containing essays written by both academics and leading practitioners, the volume places Pinter's writing within the critical and theatrical context of his time and considers its reception worldwide. Including three new essays, new production photographs, five updated and revised chapters and an extended chronology, the Companion provides fresh perspectives on Pinter's work.

One way or another, all playwrights use their work to explore the issues that interest them. The characters in a play may trumpet their creator's political views from the stage, or an unusual structure or set design may result from the playwright's interest in theatrical form. It is also common, particularly in the plays of the 20th and 21st century, to see a playwright delving into psychological issues raised by his own mental struggles or those of people he loves. Luigi Pirandello, tormented by the schizophrenia of his wife and other family members, repeatedly explored the problems caused by different visions of reality. Noel Coward's self-obsessed characters reflect his own narcissism. Alcoholism is a recurrent theme in the works of many playwrights, including Eugene O'Neill, Edward Albee, and Brian Friel. Through their exploration of these issues and more, the great writers of the theater have turned suffering into art. This book looks at the work of 20 playwrights to see how their examination of the disturbed mind has influenced the modern theater.

This Reader's Guide synthesises the key criticism on Pinter's work over the last half century. Andrew Wyllie and Catherine Rees examine critical approaches and reactions to the major plays, charting the controversies which have arisen in response to Pinter's critiques of political and sexual issues. They consider criticism from the press and academics, on the themes of Absurdism, politics and gender identity. By placing this criticism in its historical context, this guide illustrates a transition from bewilderment and outrage to affection, fascination - and more outrage.

This collection of specially written essays offers both student and theatregoer a guide to one of the most celebrated American dramatists working today. Readers will find the general and accessible descriptions and analyses provide the perfect introduction to Mamet's work. The volume covers the full range of Mamet's writing, including now classic plays such as American Buffalo and Glengarry Glen Ross, and his more recent work, Boston Marriage, among others, as well as his films, such as The Verdict and Wag the Dog. Additional chapters also explore Mamet and acting, Mamet as director, his fiction, and a survey of Mamet criticism. The Companion to David Mamet is an introduction which will prepare the reader for future work by this important and influential writer.

The first of its kind, this companion to British-Jewish theatre brings a neglected dimension in the work of many prominent British theatre-makers to the fore. Its structure reflects the historical development of British-Jewish theatre from the 1950s onwards, beginning with an analysis of the first generation of writers that now forms the core of post-war British drama (including Tom Stoppard, Harold Pinter and Arnold Wesker) and moving on to significant thematic force-fields and faultlines such as the Holocaust, antisemitism and Israel/Palestine. The book also covers the new generation of British-Jewish playwrights, with a special emphasis on the contribution of women writers and the role of particular theatres in the development of British-Jewish theatre, as well as TV drama. Included in the book are fascinating interviews with a set of significant theatre practitioners working today, including Ryan Craig, Patrick Marber, John Nathan, Julia Pascal and Nicholas Hytner. The companion addresses, not only aesthetic and ideological concerns, but also recent transformations with regard to institutional contexts and frameworks of cultural policies.

Pinter’s World: Pinter and Company is not a full-scale biography but a series of illuminating chapters about Pinter’s life, character, and thought, employing new information found in his “Appointment Diaries,” recent biographical sources such as Simon Gray’s memoirs, and Henry Woolf’s reminiscences in addition to personal discussions with several in Pinter’s world. This book provides a fresh illumination of Pinter’s life and art, his friendships, obsessions, and concerns.Material is arranged around themes, key concerns, Pinter’s activities. Pinter’s meetings and endeavors, for instance, with whom he met and when, when he wrote what and when, and his perspective at the time are documented. This work explores Pinter’s writing: drama, poetry, prose, journalism, and letters, which are here regarded as part of his aesthetic achievement. Pinter’s World: Pinter and Company presents a pointillist portrait of him through examining central concerns in his life. These encompass an obsession with the theater and games; delight in restaurants, demonstrating that Pinter is far removed from the socially awkward isolated figures populating his early work; and the women in Pinter’s world. Other areas examined include Pinter’s political engagement, from his adolescence to his last years, and the literary and other creative influences upon him. This work draws upon consultation of his papers at the British Library, including letters to others, especially close friends with whom he kept close contact for over half a century. These letters should be regarded on par with his other creative accomplishments. Pinter was a fascinating letter writer, whose letters reveal thoughts at the time of writing often in abrupt most colorful idiomatic language. His “Appointment Diaries” cannot reveal what actually occurred during his meetings, but they do provide a guide to what he did on a daily basis and whom he met. Memories from his friends, his professional colleagues, cricket players, and his second wife, Antonia Fraser, illuminate Pinter’s personality and actions. Pinter’s first literary love was poetry and, unlike most other Pinter studies, this one gives attention to his neglected poetic output that often reveals the real Pinter and the enigma that is at the heart of every great artist.