Harold Pinter plays unnerve me to the core of my conscience. This, of course, would delight the playwright. His main goal was to create plays that made audiences tense and uncomfortable, delivering a combination of suspense, humor, and some good-old fashioned bizarre. His play The Birthday Party is currently playing at Chiacgo's famed Steppenwolf Theater. Here's how they summarize this masterpiece of the absurd:
"At a sleepy seaside boarding house in England, the humdrum routine of corn flakes, newspapers and naps is interrupted by the appearance of two mysterious strangers. They become guests at longtime tenant Stanley's surprise birthday party which, after a few glasses of whiskey, party games and a mysterious blackout, turns into a deliciously impalpable nightmare."
This particular Pinter play is definitely one of my favorites among the late playwright's works. Check out my list of other remarkable plays by the man who invented the "Comedy of Menace."
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