Silence (1969 play)

Silence

Ellen and Bates, in 2008 Shimer College production

Written by| Harold Pinter
Characters| Ellen
Rumsey
Bates
Date premiered| 2 July 1969 (1969-07-02)
Place premiered| London
Original language| English
Genre| One-act play

Silence is a short play by Harold Pinter first performed in 1969.

## Production

[edit]

The première was given by the Royal Shakespeare Company in London on 2 July 1969, directed by Peter Hall.[1]

The cast was:[1]

* Ellen (a girl in her twenties) – Frances Cuka
* Rumsey (a man of forty) – Anthony Bate
* Bates (a man in his middle thirties) – Norman Rodway.

The American première was given in 1970 by the Repertory Theater of Lincoln Center, with Barbara Tarbuck, Robert Symonds and James Patterson, directed by Peter Gill.[2]

## Background

[edit]

In the introduction to the first volume of his Complete Plays, Pinter wrote:

> There are two silences. One when no word is spoken. The other when perhaps a torrent of language is being employed. This speech is speaking of a language locked beneath it. That is its continual reference. The speech we hear is an indication of that which we don't hear. It is a necessary avoidance, a violent, sly, anguished or mocking smoke screen which keeps the other in its place. When true silence falls we are still left with echo but are nearer nakedness. One way of looking at speech is to say that it is a constant stratagem to cover nakedness.[2]

In 1977 a musical setting of the play, composed by Michael Mantler, was released as a vinyl record. The main roles were sung by Kevin Coyne, Robert Wyatt and Carla Bley.

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ a b Pinter p. 100
2. ^ a b Landscape and Silence Archived 2009-02-02 at the Wayback Machine

## References

[edit]

Pinter, Harold. Plays: Three. London: Eyre Methuen, 1978. ISBN 0-413-38480-2.

* v
* t
* e

Harold Pinter

Plays|

* The Room (1957)
* The Birthday Party (1957)
* The Dumb Waiter (1957)
* A Slight Ache (1958)
* The Hothouse (1958)
* The Caretaker (1959)
* A Night Out (1959)
* Night School (1960)
* The Collection (1961)
* The Lover (1962)
* Tea Party (1964)
* The Homecoming (1964)
* The Basement (1966)
* Landscape (1967)
* Silence (1968)
* Old Times (1970)
* No Man's Land (1974)
* Betrayal (1978)
* Family Voices (1980)
* A Kind of Alaska (1982)
* Victoria Station (1982)
* One for the Road (1984)
* Mountain Language (1988)
* Moonlight (1993)
* Ashes to Ashes (1996)
* Celebration (1999)
* Remembrance of Things Past (2000)

Dramatic sketches|

* Trouble in the Works (1959)
* Applicant (1959)
* Night (1969)
* Precisely (1983)

Screenplays|

* A Night Out (1961)
* The Caretaker (1963)
* The Servant (1963)
* The Pumpkin Eater (1964)
* The Quiller Memorandum (1966)
* Accident (1967)
* The Birthday Party (1968)
* The Homecoming (1969)
* Langrishe, Go Down (1970)
* The Go-Between (1971)
* The Last Tycoon (1976)
* The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981)
* Betrayal (1983)
* Turtle Diary (1984)
* Reunion (1989)
* The Comfort of Strangers (1990)
* The Handmaid's Tale (1990)
* The Trial (1993)
* The Dreaming Child (1997)
* The Tragedy of King Lear (2000)
* Sleuth (2007)

Related articles|

* Works
* Bibliography
* Characteristics
* Honours and awards
* Relationship with academia
* Harold Pinter Archive
* Harold Pinter and politics
* Art, Truth and Politics
* Pinter's People

This article on a play from the 1960s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

|

* v
* t
* e

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template