The Homecoming

Synopsis

From the exterior it is a quiet London suburban house occupied by a father and his sons. But inside this male dominated household lurks a hotbed of Vice, Lust and Violence. The third son Teddy arrives from America bringing with him his enigmatic new wife. She soon becomes the focus of fascination for the father and his sadistic sons. They have plans for her. But who is the manipulator and who the manipulated? Pinter's trademark exploration of underlying menace and irrational violence is at it's best in this classic of barely repressed sexuality.

Our Review:

31 January 2002

Written and first performed in 1965, Harold Pinter's The Homecoming has lost none of its shocking impact on a contemporary audience, forcing us, as it does, to laugh at what we find most disturbing.

A dark Freudian family drama, the piece begins when Teddy, a successful academic, returns home from America, his wife - former photographic model Ruth - in tow. In six years, little has changed in the working-class London household, where Teddy's father Max lives with his younger brother Sam and his two other sons, Lenny and Joey.

With this homecoming, however, things are about to change considerably. Ruth's introduction to the all-male environment exposes a tangle of rage, bitterness and confused sexuality. Within a short time, both Lenny and Joey are making advances towards their brother's wife, whose response to these, and to the men's bullying manner and insecurities, is shocking in the extreme.

With the combination of such a modern classic and star c...

Read more of the review

Latest User Review

USER: Whatsonstage.com - 1 March 2002:

The show is great- with an amazing cast!!...

Read more and add your own review