The Birthday Party

June 27, 2009 in Rants & Raves, Thoughts
Tags: Arts Centre, Australia, Harold Pinter, Melbourne, Melbourne Theatre Company, MTC, personal opinion, recommendation, review, The Birthday Party, theatre, Victoria

The Birthday Party: "An intriguing, dark, and genuinely moving experience" - Alex Schlotzer

I recently went to the theatre, yes the theatre at the Melbourne Arts Centre, for a new production from the Melbourne Theatre Company (MTC) called “The Birthday Party”.  I have to be up front and admit that part of the reason I went was because a good friend of mine is in the cast and I scored a free ticket.  But I’m not writing this post for any other reason than to give my review of this interpretation of “The Birthday Party”. Just so you know.

Anyway.

The description of “The Birthday Party” provided by the MTC is, in my humble opinion, under-rated for what is delivered. The play is written by Harold Pinter, his first full-length production, which provides a realistic setting and stage to explore the dark sides of humanity.  The interplay of dialogue and the language used with each actors’ body language helped build the characters, scenes and revealed the duplicity of the characters and their motives.

The setting is a familiar one for most people; being around a kitchen table where everything of great importance is discussed, from the different items of the day’s agenda to the household family conspiracies.  Albeit it’s not a family under Pinter’s microscope.  The dialogue has been contemporized to suit an Australian audience and place names have been changed with Victorian ones.  The cast were excellent, demonstrating how well they had developed their role and their interplay with the other cast members.  Even though I know one of the cast members (Greg Fryer playing Petey Boles), I can honestly say each actor gave thoroughly believeable performances; allowing themselves to be their character. The combination of the actors’ talent and the use of music, props and lighting made this production thoroughly entertaining that brought the play together, delivering a strange story with dark, disturbing under-currents.

I was fully engaged for the entirety and had a lot to talk about afterwards with my friends; including the ones who haven’t seen it but know of Pinter’s work. I strongly recommend “The Birthday Party” for anyone wanting an intriguing, dark and genuinely moving experience.

5 out of 5

A Few Pictures from the Production

McCann and Goldberg

“If you’re in Melbourne you have no excuse for not seeing this quality production that explores the disturbingly familiar and vile parts of the human condition.” – Alex Schlotzer

Petey and Stanley

Stanley and Goldberg