The International Harold Pinter Society

It’s here! Please order for yourself and/or library! Thank you to all the contributors and Bloomsbury for your work and suppport. Essays by John Timpane, Kevin J. Wetmore, Andrew Rabin, Christopher Salamone, Beth A. Kattleman, Judith Roof, Ben Furnish, Alan Nadel, Jennifer Larson, Craig N. Owens, Amy Muse, Margaret Noodin, and myself. https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/dramatic-apparitions-and-theatrical-ghosts-9781350371712/

Don't miss this exciting event! Several IHPS members are scheduled to give talks.

Harold Pinter: Adaptation, Experimentation, Transformation A one-day symposium at the University of Reading exploring the role of adaptation in Harold Pinter's artistic practice.

Call for Papers: 2024 Louisville Conference on Literature and Culture

Harold Pinter/Sarah Kane

The International Harold Pinter Society welcomes proposals for its panel at the 2024 Louisville Conference on Literature and Culture. 2024 will mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of Sarah Kane’s death. To honor her memory and artistic legacy, this year’s panel will analyze the relationship between Harold Pinter and Sarah Kane. Perhaps an unlikely pairing, the two playwrights respected each other immensely. Their plays frequently explore the darker side of human interactions, creating intense stage explorations of emotional and physical torture, violence, ironies, and fear. Yet, it could be argued that both Pinter and Kane sought to transcend these extreme states, respectively investigating human dignity and the conditions that make love necessary. More broadly, the panel is an opportunity to reflect on how Pinter’s artistic and political contributions informed how Kane and her contemporaries represented issues such as violence, familial relationships, political oppression, mental health, and physical intimacy. Alternatively, we invite papers that examine how Kane and her contemporaries critically engaged with Pinter’s aesthetic. We look forward to discussions that imagine how pairing Harold Pinter and Sarah Kane can inspire new theatrical forms or modes of creative expression.
For more information about the Louisville Conference on Literature and Culture, please visit https://thelouisvilleconference.com/. For more information about the International Harold Pinter Society, please visit https://www.pintersociety.org/.

Please submit 250 work abstracts and an abbreviated C.V. to [email protected] by September 10, 2023. Papers will be published in the 2024 issue of The Harold Pinter Review. We plan to host one panel in-person and one panel online to accommodate scholars who may not be able to attend the conference.

The latest volume of The Harold Pinter Review is now available:

The Harold Pinter Review Read the current issue of The Harold Pinter Review.

Don’t forget to join the The International Harold Pinter Society or renew your membership asap. Volume 6 of The Harold Pinter Review will be out shortly, and your membership includes one copy. The price of single volumes from the press is costly, so joining is definitely the best option.

Membership How to join/donate To join the International Harold Pinter Society, or to renew your membership, please first enter the requested information on the membership form. Once all information has been …

Some exciting news and a reminder.

It is with great pleasure that I announce the new leadership of the International Harold Pinter Society. Thank you all for your willingness to serve. I am very grateful for my time as president and editor, and I look forward to this new chapter in the International Harold Pinter Society.

Matthew Roberts, President and co-editor of the HPR
William Baker, Vice-President and member of the HPR Editorial Board
Judith Roof, Treasurer and co-editor of the HPR
Ann C. Hall, Past-President and member of the HPR Editorial Board
Lynn Hall, Past-Treasurer

Don’t forget to renew your memberships soon! See the link for details. https://www.pintersociety.org/membership/
Best,
Ann Hall

Membership How to join/donate To join the International Harold Pinter Society, or to renew your membership, please first enter the requested information on the membership form. Once all information has been …

Available 10 August 2023. Pre-order now, if you choose.

Dramatic Apparitions and Theatrical Ghosts Ghosts haunt the stages of world theatre, appearing in classical Greek drama through to the plays of 21st-century dramatists. Tracing the phenomenon across time…

The Routledge Encyclopedia of Modernism: Drama/Performance seeks encyclopedia entries on drama, theatre, and performance. It is the largest and most comprehensive resource available for all those involved in the study of modernism, from students to academics. Entries range from 250 to 3000 words, from a brief definition to more extensive entries with suggested bibliographies.

To submit: https://www.editorialmanager.com/rem/default2.aspx

For more information, contact Ann C. Hall at the University of Louisville: [email protected].

Editorial Manager® Full-Function Web-Enabled Manuscript Submission and Tracking System for Peer Review

It is with heavy heart that we announce the passing of Dr. Steven Gale, the founding president of the Harold Pinter Society. See full details here:

Dr. Steven H. Gale August 18, 1940-February 12, 2023

Pinter’s mainstream!! He’s made it to Jeopardy!!

Just a friendly reminder that Harry Burton is offering a wonderful ONLINE workshop. There are a few slots left.

Old Times - RUN AT IT SHOUTING In “Old Times”, one of Harold Pinter’s most ambiguous and poetic plays (1970), a weekend house-guest brings the past back to haunt a married couple in their remote Norfolk home. The existing high tensions within a marriage are wonderfully brought out by the erotic intrusion of an unknown intim...

Be sure to check out Stumped by Shomit Dutta, streaming live from Lords on Saturday, September 10, 7PM London time.

According to Shomit, There’s a discount code for special friends: ‘GETSTUMPED5’. You have to register with Original Theatre first to buy a ticket, which is slightly annoying. And, of course, if you’re near someone else, you could watch it together with your one ‘ticket’.
Live stream link: https://originaltheatreonline.com/productions/45/stumped-live-at-lords-saturday-10-september

On demand begins 24 September.

https://originaltheatreonline.com/productions/46/stumped-on-demand

Michael Billington’s article about the event. https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2022/aug/08/stumped-samuel-beckett-harold-pinter-cricket-drama-shomit-dutta?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Batting for Godot: the play about Beckett and Pinter teaming up for a game of cricket The two titans of modern drama were both cricket obsessives. What if they had faced the fast bowlers together? Playwright Shomit Dutta explains why he made it happen – with darkly comic drama Stumped

Just a friendly reminder about the Louisville Literature and Culture Conference. Also, we will publish select conference presentations for Volume 7 Pinter Review.

Politics in Play: Louisville Conference 23-25 February 2023
Sponsored by the International Harold Pinter Society these panels will explore the relationship or lack thereof between/among/within theatre, performance, politics. Is all theatre political? Is all drama counter-hegemonic? Is activism theatre? Papers on specific political topics such as as non-binary, abortion, feminism, eco-criticism, critical race theory, post colonialism, Indigenous drama and performances, etc. are also welcome. Please submit 500 word abstracts with titles to Ann C. Hall, [email protected] by September 1, 2022. I will then organize them and submit them as a group. If you would like to submit other papers or creative pieces, please do! Here’s the information on the conference.

https://www.thelouisvilleconference.com/

The Louisville Conference © 2018-2021 by Brandon J. Harwood Website Designer for The Louisville Conference. All Photographs taken by Rachid Tagoulla.

More good news. Volume 6 of The Harold Pinter Review has been published. Here’s the Table of Contents. Be sure to join or renew your membership to receive your copy!

Editor’s Note Ann C. Hall v

“A Damn Good Game”: Hegemonic Masculinity in Harold Pinter’s Betrayal By Alix Burbridge 1

Metamimesis in Harold Pinter’s Old Times By Guy Zimmerman 19

“Get Back to Your Trough”: Postcolonialism in Harold Pinter’s The Caretaker By Farah Ali 36

Adrienne Kennedy’s Mom, How Did You Meet the Beatles?: Taking a Pause Out of the Pandemic By Baron Kelly 51

The Dumb Waiter (in Camera) at The Old Vic Reviewed by Judith Saunders 58

The King and the Catholics: England, Ireland, and the Fight for Religious Freedom, 1780–1829 by Antonia Fraser
Reviewed by Ann C. Hall 62

Tom Stoppard: A Life by Hermione Lee Reviewed by Charles Grimes 64

Conference Proceedings

“If We Changed Clothes, Sir, We Could Get Things Back to Normal”: Full Frontal Assault and Gender Norms in What the Butler Saw By Alan Nadel 71

To “Throw Off the Cloak of Representation”: Absurd and Precarious Aesthetics in Hito Steyerl’s How Not to Be Seen By Flora K. Schildknecht 78

A Horse Is a Horse: Theatre of the Absurd Traditions in 1960s Fantasy Situation Comedies By Nancy C. Jones 88

Smith and Smitherson’s Theatre of the Absurd: Virtual Reality and Theatricality in Accounting+ By Katie Cross Gibson 97

The Future Is Eugène: A Play By Judith Roof 110

Volume 6 of The Harold Pinter Review has been published. Please consider submitting articles for Volume 7! And please join the society to receive your printed copy of the Review, if you have not already.

Table of Contents.

Editor’s Note Ann C. Hall v

“A Damn Good Game”: Hegemonic Masculinity in Harold Pinter’s Betrayal By Alix Burbridge 1

Metamimesis in Harold Pinter’s Old Times By Guy Zimmerman 19

“Get Back to Your Trough”: Postcolonialism in Harold Pinter’s The Caretaker By Farah Ali 36

Adrienne Kennedy’s Mom, How Did You Meet the Beatles?: Taking a Pause Out of the Pandemic By Baron Kelly 51

The Dumb Waiter (in Camera) at The Old Vic Reviewed by Judith Saunders 58

The King and the Catholics: England, Ireland, and the Fight for Religious Freedom, 1780–1829 by Antonia Fraser
Reviewed by Ann C. Hall 62

Tom Stoppard: A Life by Hermione Lee Reviewed by Charles Grimes 64

Conference Proceedings

“If We Changed Clothes, Sir, We Could Get Things Back to Normal”: Full Frontal Assault and Gender Norms in What the Butler Saw By Alan Nadel 71

To “Throw Off the Cloak of Representation”: Absurd and Precarious Aesthetics in Hito Steyerl’s How Not to Be Seen By Flora K. Schildknecht 78

A Horse Is a Horse: Theatre of the Absurd Traditions in 1960s Fantasy Situation Comedies By Nancy C. Jones 88

Smith and Smitherson’s Theatre of the Absurd: Virtual Reality and Theatricality in Accounting+ By Katie Cross Gibson 97

The Future Is Eugène: A Play By Judith Roof 110

The latest issue of Modern Drama, "New Approaches to Harold Pinter" is now published. The editor may have a few tokens to spare should anyone be stuck behind a paywall.
https://moderndrama.utpjournals.press/toc/md/65/2

Politics in Play: Louisville Conference 23-25 February 2023
Sponsored by the International Harold Pinter Society these panels will explore the relationship or lack thereof between/among/within theatre, performance, politics. Is all theatre political? I all drama counter-hegemonic? Is activism theatre? Papers on specific political issues welcome, as well as discussion regarding eco-criticism, critical race theory, post colonialism, Indigenous drama and performances, etc. are also welcome. Please submit 500 word abstracts with titles to Ann C. Hall, [email protected] by September 1, 2022. I will then organize them and submit them as a group. If you would like to submit other papers or creative pieces, please do! Here’s the information on the conference. https://www.thelouisvilleconference.com/call-for-papers

Call for Papers | LCLC IF you don't hear back from her in 7-10 days, check your junk mail folder for an e-mail from [email protected] (sometimes junk and spam filters don't like our address). If you don't see anything in those folders, please e-mail [email protected] again.

Hello everyone,

The sixth volume of The Harold Pinter Review should be out shortly. Please renew your membership to receive a copy as part of your membership dues.

I've also decided to step down as president and editor in the Spring of 2023. Dr. Matthew Roberts will guest edit the seventh volume of The Harold Pinter Review, and we hope he will take over as editor and president.

Essays are due 1 August 2022 through the Editorial Manager portal for the journal.
Best, Ann

The editors of The Harold Pinter Review invite submissions for the forthcoming issue (7), to be published June 2023. We welcome scholarly articles, book reviews, or performance reviews. For this issue, authors may write on any aspect of Pinter’s career (in theater, film, radio, television, etc.) or its import on modern drama. To submit your work, please visit: https://www.editorialmanager.com/hpr/default1.aspx.

To review author guidelines, please visit:https://www.editorialmanager.com/hpr/account/HPR%20Author%20Submission%20Guidelines.pdf

Scholarly articles should be submitted through Editorial Manager by August 1st, 2022. Reviews should be submitted through Editorial Manager by January 1st, 2023. You may direct questions about the issue or the submission process to Matthew Roberts at [email protected].

Editorial Manager® Full-Function Web-Enabled Manuscript Submission and Tracking System for Peer Review

The International Harold Pinter Society

MMLA CFP 2022

“Art and Politics: Pinter and the Nobel”

The 2022 MMLA convention theme, “Post-Now,” invites us to reconsider Harold Pinter’s Nobel speech, “Art, Truth and Politics.” In the address, Pinter reinforces his assessment that a “thing is not necessarily either true or false; it can be both true and false,” but clearly connects such an observation to the “exploration of reality through art.” In contrast to the artist, the citizen must distinguish between what is true and what is false. Failing to do this, the citizen risks supporting or participating in authoritarianism. While the dichotomy that Pinter constructs appears obvious enough, we invite papers that discuss, complicate, or expand how Pinter describes the distinction between the aesthetic and the political, and/or whether or not his reflections bear on the so-called post-truth era. Proposals may examine how Pinter’s description of aesthetic and political truth reflect or disrupt discussions of his so-called political plays and the way that language functions within them. Papers may also examine Pinter’s political legacy and its contemporary importance. Please submit a 250 word abstract, 2 page CV, and brief biographical statement to Matthew Roberts ([email protected]) by April 15th.

Hello everyone. All issues of the Harold Pinter Review will be available for free until March 31,2022. Penn State is moving its online access to a new distributor, the Scholarly Publishing Collective. There will be more changes and announcements in the future, but for now, the content is accessible online free of charge until March 31. Here is the link.
https://scholarlypublishingcollective.org/psup/harold-pinter

scholarlypublishingcollective.org

Coming up this week—The Louisville Literature and Culture Conference, featuring panels on the Theatre of the Absurd, Thursday February 24 to Saturday February 26.

A- 4 The International Harold Pinter Society I - Revising the Absurd
Thursday 1:30 PM − 3:00 PM Room: Humanities 121
Chair: Derek Hemmen, University of Louisville

Katie Cross Gibson, University of Louisville
“Smith & Smitherson's Theatre of the Absurd: Virtual Reality/Theatricality in Accounting +”
Peter Johnson, University of Louisville
“'Will You Not Play:' Waiting for Godot and Prison Performance”

B- 5 The International Harold Pinter Society II - A staged reading and discussion of Eugene Ionesco�s The Bald Soprano
Thursday 3:15 PM – 4:45 PM Room: Humanities 123
Chair: Benjamin Wilson, University of Louisville

Experimental Collaboration,
“Cast Mr. Smith: Tom Byers, University of Louisville, Mrs. Smith: Judith Roof, Independent Scholar, Mr. Martin: Alan Nadel, University of Kentucky, Mrs. Martin: Ann C. Hall, University of Louisville, Mary: Nancy Jones, University of Louisville”

D- 2 The International Harold Pinter Society III - Assault, Pataphysics, and Totalitarianism
Friday 10:45 AM – 12:15 PM Room: Humanities 219
Chair: Benjamin Wilson, University of Louisville

Alan Nadel, University of Kentucky
“'I'm Interested in R**e, Miss Barclay, not the Aesthetics of Cross-Examination': Full Frontal Assault and Gender Norms in What the Butler Saw”
Judith Roof, Rice University
“The 'Pataphysics of the 'Absurd' From Jarry to Cocteau to Arrabal”
Ann C. Hall, University of Louisville
“The Politics of the Absurd: The Theatre of Vaclav Havel”

E-1 The International Harold Pinter Society IV- Revisiting the Absurd
Friday 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM Room: Humanities 101
Chair: Diana Wilder, University of Louisville

Rasheed Otun Ismaila, University of Louisville
“The Death and Dearth of Heroes in the Absurd: A Formalist Approach”
Flora Schildknecht, University of Louisville
“New Absurdist Aesthetics: Hito Steyerl and the Precarious Moving Image”
Nancy Jones, University of Louisville
“A Horse is a Horse: Theatre of the Absurd Traditions in 1960's Fantasy Situation Comedies”
Www.Louisvilleconference.com

www.louisvilleconference.com

Check out this YouTube video, “Celebrating Henry Woolf” from Harry Burton. Thank you Harry! https://youtu.be/xlu7pB_2SYw

Celebrating Henry Woolf Henry Woolf (1930 - 2021) took part in my Channel 4 film WORKING WITH PINTER. These interviews & outtakes are previously unpublished material from the filmin...

Here are a few articles on Henry Woolf, thanks to Harry Burton who appears in the photo with Pinter and Woolf. The photo is from November 2006. Here is a link to the Gaurdian piece, as well. https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2021/nov/24/henry-woolf-obituary

Henry Woolf remembered. https://theartsdesk.com/theatre/remembering-henry-woolf-harold-pinters-oldest-friend

Remembering Henry Woolf, Harold Pinter's oldest friend Henry Woolf's place in theatre history is small but significant, a bit like Woolf was himself. Until his death on November 11, at the age of 91, he was the last survivor of a gang who made friends at Hackney Down grammar school in the 1930s. The most famous member of the group was Harold Pinter. The...

Just a quick note to let you know that Henry Woolf left this earth yesterday. More details will follow. Ann

Had a wonderful time with Dr. Ciaran Leinster and Dr. Ambika Singh during their Arthur Miller Podcast. We discussed the relationship between Miller and Pinter. https://www.buzzsprout.com/1295477/9294501

Episode 6: Arthur Miller and Harold Pinter: Plays, Politics, and PEN, with Prof. Ann C Hall - The Arthur Miller Society Podcast Over the last six months Ciarán and Ambika have been busy correcting essays, finding new jobs, getting vaccinated, and trying to read Gravity's Rainbow, and suddenly all that time passed without a new episode!To mark the beginning of the new semes...

CFP Announcements and Reminders.

Deadline extended for The Harold Pinter Review. Essays are now due 1 September 2021. Please submit to https://www.editorialmanager.com/hpr/default.aspx

Theatre of the Absurd papers for the Louisville Literature and Culture Conference are also due by 1 September to [email protected].

To submit general papers on literature and culture from 1900-on to the Louisville conference or for more information about the conference, see https://www.thelouisvilleconference.com/call-for-papers

Editorial Manager® Full-Function Web-Enabled Manuscript Submission and Tracking System for Peer Review

Hi everyone!

This year, I’d like to hold several panels on the theatre of the absurd at the Louisville Literature and Culture Conference, since Esslin’s book celebrated its 60th during COVID.

I’m soliciting proposals for several panels, and I’m casting a staged reading of The Bald Soprano. Conference proposals are due 15 September, so I would need a brief abstract (250-500 words) from you by 1 September with your contact information. The Conference will be held in Louisville, KY from 22 February to 26 February 2022.

Unfortunately, we have no funds to offset travel expenses, but I thought I would let you about this conference. Depending on the response, we may also figure out a way to publish papers on the theatre of the absurd in The Harold Pinter Review or as an edited collection. So, if you cannot make the conference, you might be interested in submitting a paper to that special issue.

I have attached the link to the conference information, and please let others know about the special panels and the conference in general.

Thank you in advance for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Ann C. Hall
[email protected]
Send absurd papers to me directly by 1 September.

For other conference proposals, see the CFP. The deadline is 15 September.

https://www.thelouisvilleconference.com/call-for-papers

Call for Papers | Lou'ville Conference

Jonathan Bignell recently published, “Cringe Histories: Harold Pinter and the Steptoes.” Here is the link: https://doi.org/10.3390/h10020083

Cringe Histories: Harold Pinter and the Steptoes This article argues that cringe humour in British television had begun at least by the early 1960s and derived from a theatre history in which conventions of Naturalism were modified by emergent British writers working with European avant-garde motifs. The article makes the case by analysing the imp...

William Baker shared his essay, co-written with Kenneth Womack, “Pinter’s Apprenticehip and the BBC.” This link should take you to the article. https://doi.org/10.1080/0013838X.2021.1928362

Pinter’s Apprenticeship and the BBC (2021). Pinter’s Apprenticeship and the BBC. English Studies: Vol. 102, No. 4, pp. 453-467.

The Old Vic presents THE DUMB WAITER 7-10 July 2021.

£10 tickets available for live-streamed The Dumb Waiter
The Old Vic – live-streamed
07–10 Jul

Daniel Mays (Line of Duty, White Lines) and David Thewlis (Fargo TV series, Harry Potter film series) star in Harold Pinter’s darkly funny, insidiously menacing The Dumb Waiter for the sixth production in The Old Vic's globally live-streamed series, OLD VIC: IN CAMERA.

Ben and Gus are seasoned hitmen awaiting details of their next target in the basement of a supposedly abandoned cafe. When the dumbwaiter begins sending them mysterious food orders, the killers’ waiting game starts to unravel.

Book tickets from £10
https://www.oldvictheatre.com/whats-on/2021/live-stream-from-home/old-vic-in-camera-the-dumb-waiter

YouTube Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBfn3GMnECM

Hi everyone. It’s that time of year! Start working on your papers, panels, poetry, and seminars for the Louisville Literature Conference. Of course, we want film, theatre, and drama represented, too!! Submissions are due 15 September 2021. Here’s the CFP:

https://www.thelouisvilleconference.com/call-for-papers
And don’t forget to like the conference FB page
The Louisville Conference on Literature and Culture Since 1900

Call for Papers | Lou'ville Conference

Another great issue! The Harold Pinter Review Volume 5, 2021. Thank you to all our contributors, supporters, and members. Submit papers for Volume6 by 1 August. Congratulations to all.

The most recent Harold Pinter Review will be released in two weeks. It’s one of the best volumes. Don’t forget to subscribe to receive your copy. https://www.pintersociety.org/membership/

Membership How to join/donate To join the International Harold Pinter Society, or to renew your membership, please first enter the requested information on the membership form. Once all information has been …

Greetings everyone!

We have a new editorial board member for The Harold Pinter Review: Dr. Basil Chiasson is a new member of the Editorial Board. His academic affiliation is Western University (Ontario, Canada). Welcome to the board, Dr. Chiasson.

If you have not done so, please renew your membership or join the International Harold Pinter Society soon to receive your copy of the 5th volume of The Harold Pinter Review.

If you are interested in presenting a paper on Harold Pinter at the Midwest Modern Language Association in Milwaukee, WI November 4-7, 2021. Please submit a 500-word abstract to [email protected] by May 1. Please include a title and your email address.

The Drama session is also looking for papers: The 2021 MMLA Drama Section welcomes fifteen-minute papers on Dramatic Pedagogy for the 2021 conference in Milwaukee, WI. In addition to innovative classroom approaches to specific texts or theatrical representations, this panel will consider dramatic texts and performances with particularly subversive didactic appeals. As always, any belligerent contrarians who wish to consider the limits of dramatic pedagogy are welcome. Please submit a 250-word abstract to Lance Norman at [email protected] by May 1, 2021.

And as always, papers for publication in volume 6 of The Harold Pinter Review are due 1 August 2021.
Best, Ann