The Birthday Party by Harold Pinter

In this sixth episode, Steven and Alex look at a seminal play by the Nobel Laureate, Harold Pinter, called The Birthday Party as a way of understanding how society can oppress us as individuals and coerce us into a stultifying conformity. Pinter's first play is a brilliant depiction of how a patriarchal, authoritarian society trades one kind of immaturity for another, as Stanley Webber's 'coming of age' involves replacing his feeble, yet somewhat exploitative resistance with a soulless subjection to society's 'duties' and norms. Topics they discuss in the podcast include: to what extent is Stanley a victim and to what extent are his oppressors also victims?; why is Stanley ultimately unable to resist these autocratic forces and what kind of society and upbringing might have saved him?; why is love seemingly so elusive in the world that Pinter depicts?; does this play have a moral message that can help us in our lives?

Further Resources

• The best (in our opinion) recorded performance of this play is William Friedkin's production, as all the actors are unsurpassable: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhbrpWlSZRA
• Pinter's play can be found in the following collection: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Plays-Birthday-Hothouse-Examina-Examination/dp/0571178448/ref=sr_1_7?Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.x=0&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.y=0&__mk_en_GB=%C3%85M%C3%85Z%C3%95%C3%91&qid=1638371539&qsid=262-7832069-2751859&refinements=p_27%3Aharold+pinter&s=books&sr=1-7&sres=0571305482%2C0571160786%2C0571193838%2C0571349919%2C0571288405%2C057120497X%2C0571178448%2C3499123711%2C0573021481%2C0571244807%2C0571203248%2C0571207332%2C0571203191%2C0573042101%2C0571160808%2C080215087X&unfiltered=1
• Michael Billington wrote an excellent biography of this great playwright, showing both the complexity of his character and his great humanitarian focus: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Harold-Pinter-Michael-Billington/dp/0571234763/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=michael+billington&qid=1638371593&qsid=262-7832069-2751859&s=books&sr=1-5&sres=1783350318%2C1350214779%2C0750987898%2C057121049X%2C0571234763%2CB00P37KS2A%2CB084WK9BTL%2C0571190650%2C0356065510%2C1854596608%2C0571171036%2C0333489896%2C0413458601%2C0241893453%2C0241020948%2CB00124MDP8
• Pinter's Nobel prize speech, which is as unsparing as his plays: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH96tuRA3L0
• Alex, the co-host, wrote his PhD on Pinter's work, primarily from a psychoanalytic perspective: https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/7484190/PhD_thesis.pdf