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Goodman & Atkins Celebrate Pinter’s Birthday Party

As previously tipped (See The Goss, 2 Nov 2004), Henry Goodman will star in a major new revival of Harold Pinter’s 1958 modern classic The Birthday Party. The Birmingham Rep production, in which Goodman will be joined by Eileen Atkins, runs at Birmingham from 11 to 26 March 2005 before visiting Bath (28 March to 2 April) and Malvern (4 to 9 April) and an expected West End transfer.

Pinter’s first full-length play, The Birthday Party centres on unemployed musician Stanley, who leads a mundane but peaceful life as the only guest living with the mumsy doting Meg (Atkins) and quiet agreeable Petey. When the sinister Goldberg (Goodman) and McCann arrive, their intentions grow progressively ominous. Everyone, from the resort owners to the unsuspecting girl next door, becomes caught up in Stanley´s peculiar birthday party.

Goodman’s many London stage credits include Art, Guys and Dolls, Angels in America, Feelgood, Follies, Chicago, as well as The Merchant of Venice and Assassins, both of which he won Oliviers for.

A fellow multiple Olivier winner, Atkins has won awards for Cymbeline, The Unexpected Man and last year’s Honour. Her other stage credits include The Killing of Sister George and, earlier this year on Broadway, The Retreat from Moscow, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award.

The Birthday Party is directed by Lindsay Posner, whose recent West End credits include David Mamet’s Sexual Perversity in Chicago, Oleanna and, opening in February, A Life in the Theatre. The Pinter revival is presented by Birmingham Rep in association with Duncan C Weldon.

- by Terri Paddock

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