At last - a play!!!! Old Times

[kygal]

Yay GL. PM me after you see it.

[adina]

British Library is very proud, because...



"Actors Kristin Scott Thomas, Rufus Sewell and Lia Williams visited St Pancras last week to prepare for a forthcoming West End production of Harold Pinter’s Old Times. The cast and director Ian Rickson came to the Library to look at drafts of the play and correspondence from the Pinter Archive.

Written in 1970 following a depressing spell of writer’s block, Old Times is a play about a 40-something couple, Kate and Deeley, and Kate’s former flatmate, Anna, whose visit provokes conflicting memories of the time when the three first knew each other.

Pinter was famous for refusing to comment on the back-stories of his characters and Ian Rickson had a few initial qualms about showing the cast the Archive, but was reassured by the fact that Pinter himself had made the decision to deposit his papers at the Library to enable this kind of research.

A read-through of the two earliest drafts of the play unearthed plenty of useful character detail to take back to the rehearsal room. The actors were also struck by the vigorous crossings out, under-linings and marginal notes that reveal Pinter’s thought process as he developed the play, making the precise nature of the characters’ relationships less explicit in order to tighten the dramatic structure.

Lia Williams, who will alternate playing the parts of Kate and Anna with Kristin Scott Thomas, described the session as ‘the most fascinating thing I’ve ever done’."

britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/inspiredby/2012/12/west-end-stars-consult-the-harold-pinter-archive.html?ns_campaign=creativeindustriesblog12&ns_mchannel=socialmedia&ns_source=facebook&ns_linkname=creativeindustriesblog_westendstars_kw_20121218&ns_fee=0

[kissmekate]

Ooh, nice! I love to see him show up at libraries

[Petruchio - Good God]

You are the STAR adina.. thx for finding and posting that !!!!

[judypatooty]

Very interesting! Thanks, Adina!

[GreenEyesToo]

Oh, fabulous - thanks, Adina!

[kygal]

They look to be in deep thought. Thanks Adina!

[walt]

Very intriguing! Thanks so much, Adina!

[nell]

What a great article thanks for posting Adina!

Is it my imagination or is someone holding a pencil on Rufus's arm?

[adina]

If Ian Rickson was standing next to the librarian (who might take the photo), his hand could be between the camera and Rufus.

[kygal]

I hadnt noticed that Nell...lol.

[GreenEyesToo]

Just came across this snippet, relating to the rehearsals:

FYI,

Anyone in London between January and April should go and see this play that is being performed at the renamed Harold Pinter Theatre in London.

It is about identity and fractured memory and stars Kristin Scott Thomas, Lia Williams (who played the leading role in May 33rd portraying someone with DID) and Rufus Sewell and is directed by Ian Rickson.

Rémy Aquarone, the director of The Pottergate Centre For Dissociation & Trauma and a past President of ESTD ( European Society for Trauma & Dissociation), was briefly involved during rehearsals in order to explain dissociation and explore its possible relevance to the play. They so clearly grasped the concept of dissociation and the short reading he listened to he described as 'electrifying'.

www.ptsdforum.org/c/threads/sat-12-jan-2013-theatre-old-times-by-h-pinter-london.29826/

[kitty]

How nice that they got to read from those old manuscripts.

[kygal]

Thanks GE2.

[nell]

I like the sound of electrifying!

How interesting. It's great we get to hear about some of the research. I think the quality of the research is instrumental in a good book/performance. There are certain things you need to understand to make it real.

Thanks for finding and posting GE2