The Birthday Party

Stanley Webber is the only lodger at Meg and Petey Boles’ sleepy seaside boarding house. The unsettling arrival of enigmatic strangers Goldberg and McCann disrupts the humdrum lives of the inhabitants and their friend Lulu, and mundanity soon becomes menace when a seemingly innocent birthday party turns into a disturbing nightmare. Truth and alliances hastily shift in Pinter’s landmark play about the absurd terrors of the everyday.

Cast & Crew

Cast

Goldberg
Lulu
McCann
Meg
Petey
Stanley
[understudy] Lulu
[understudy] Meg
[understudy] Petey / Goldberg
[understudy] Stanley / McCann

Crew

Design
Director
Lighting
Movement
Music
Sound
Casting

Seen by

Photographs

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Play description

“Unemployed pianist Stanley lodges with Petey and Meg. When two mysterious strangers turn up Stanley wants to get rid of them, but they plan a party with Meg to celebrate his birthday. As the party progresses, the sense of menace grows stronger and things get out of control.”
(Taken from the Highbury 2009–2010 leaflet)

Photo credits

  • Promo Image by Unknown, Creative Commons Attribution
  • The Birthday Party by Johan Persson, Creative Commons Attribution
  • The Birthday Party by Johan Persson, Creative Commons Attribution
  • The Birthday Party by Johan Persson, Creative Commons Attribution
  • The Birthday Party by Johan Persson, Creative Commons Attribution

Observations

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