Plays: Three

by Harold Pinter

Three The Homecoming; Tea Party; The Basement; Landscape; Silence

Genres: Plays, Drama, Theatre

247 pages, Paperback

First published May 4, 1978

About the author

Harold Pinter was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party (1957), The Homecoming (1964) and Betrayal (1978), each of which he adapted for the screen. His screenplay adaptations of others' works include The Servant (1963), The Go-Between (1971), The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), The Trial (1993) and Sleuth (2007). He also directed or acted in radio, stage, television and film productions of his own and others' works.

Reviews

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the fourth collection of Pinter plays that I have read and was the expected mix of excellent, good and occasionally incomprehensible! There is certainly no-one who writes plays quite like Pinter - dark, gritty, mesmerising at times - the nearest equivalent for me would be Arthur Miller, whose plays I also really like. Yet, Miller's plays are still regularly performed and Pinter's not so much, which is sad - would love to at least see some TV adaptations to get a new perspective on them. I think that 4 books of plays is all I'm going to get, at least from my library, but have really enjoyed delving into them - 8/10.

[Zach · Rating 3 out of 5]

These plays messed with my head.

[Eingutesomen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ich empfehle “The homecoming” und “Old times”

[j_ay · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Homecoming ****o
Tea Party ****o
The Basement ***oo
Landscape **ooo
Silence **ooo
Night ***oo
That's Your Trouble ***oo
That's All ***oo
Applicant ***oo
Interview ***oo
Dialogue for Three ***oo
Tea Party (short story) ***oo
Old Times ****o
No Man's Land ****o

[Samuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The four stars are principally for 'The Homecoming', one of my favourite plays and one which I'm writing about for coursework in conjunction with 'King Lear'. The other plays in this collection are some of his more obscure and ambiguous works. Not to say that they're not just as infused with Pinter's black humour and twisted tone.

[swodder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth it for No Man's Land alone. I think The Birthday Party just tips it as Pinter's best play but this is a close second and in performance normally I prefer this one. I'd probably suggest that starting with volume 1 would be better but this selection is by no means for completists only.