ED2011 Theatre Review: Kaddish For Pinter (Studio Earth, Scotland)

Despite a strong cast and a script from respected writer David Ian Neville, this flawed tribute never comes together. Drawing heavily on ‘One For The Road’, the play reveals how the captors are as much in the dark as the captive. The three performers are assured and playful in their roles, determinedly drawing out what emotion and humour they can, while brief interactions with the audience add a sharp and appropriately isolating edge. However, it sets aside Pinter’s sparse style in favour of dense language, hairpin power shifts, and an uncompromising refusal to give anything away, leaving the audience with little to cling to. Ultimately bewildering, it leaves you wondering if it’s come to bury Pinter, not praise him.

Spotlites @ The Merchant’s Hall, 4 – 28 Aug (not 10, 22), 5.45 pm (6.45 pm), £10.00 – £12.00, fpp273.
tw rating 2/5
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Sections: by Dave Fargnoli - ED2011 Theatre Reviews - tw rating 2/5 | Tags: Spotlites, Studio Earth

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Anonymous

Pinter is dead but his massive achievements and personality make an ongoing impact on the Fringe. Kadish for Pinter is one such offering from the experienced pen of David Ian Neville. This new play forms a fine tribute, encapsulating the essence of Pinter’s style and politics without slavish adherence to any specific text, an elegy without a fawning obituary. Short but gripping, the play addresses the paradoxical roles of inquisitor and victim within the shifting morality at the boundaries of our democracy. The expert Scottish cast do full justice to a tightly crafted script. Engrossing, exciting, but enigmatic. The great man would have approved.
Maurice Naftalin

The review recognises the strengths of this production – tightly written, very well-acted, engrossing. But the reviewer condemns the play because there isn’t a simple message to take away. Everyone accepts Pinter’s plays as classics now, but in their day they met exactly the same short-sighted criticism.

Friday August 12th, 2011 22:50

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