Many apologies for our absence. I am pleased to report the RSC Friends Blog is back on and almost just in time Tony’s reflection on his first impressions of The Homecoming…….
Our scene now changes to Cardiff, but we very much stay with RSC history. The week commencing 22nd March 1965 was indeed a milestone in the history of the New Theatre, Cardiff, for that week gave audiences a chance to see not only a revival of Clifford Williams’ celebrated production of THE COMEDY OF ERRORS but also the world premiere of a new play by Harold Pinter. This was certainly a theatrical coup for the then Cardiff theatre administrator Roy Todds who, within a very short space of time had brought to the Welsh Capital the very best of theatre, opera and ballet.
A world premiere of a Pinter AND by the RSC? Friday 26th March 1965 was surely going to be a night to remember and it certainly was! Even now, I can recall waiting in anticipation in that first performance audience for the curtain to rise on what the programme informed us was “an old house in north London “. Such was the impact of that performance directed by Peter Hall and the writing of Harold Pinter that it all seems as fresh as yesterday. At the end, I knew I had been present at the birth of a modern classic and one which was going to provoke much debate amongst its audiences.
The following evening the then drama critic of the SOUTH WALES ECHO concluded his encouraging review thus: “There were those who laughed nervously, those who laughed spontaneously and those who laughed not at all “. Those words certainly sum up that first night audience and may I add I was amongst those who laughed spontaneously! My thoughts that I had experienced a very special theatrical event were confirmed that June when I read R.B.Marriott’s review in THE STAGE following the opening of the production at the Aldwych Theatre. He wrote: “…Mr. Pinter’s writing stands squarely in its own right as a work of considerable interest and accomplishment …it is a play of genuine originality that explores people and relationships, the past and the present and possibilities with intensity and imagination”.
How nostalgic then and how very special it has been to be in the Swan audience for David Farr’s revival. Whilst that evening in March 1965 continues to be memorable, I now see it was only a prelude for the theatrical triumph which is our 2011 production of THE HOMECOMING. It has received much praise and acclaim from those who have not seen either the play or any Pinter before and I hope any readers have been to seen it.
More than ever, this revival shows why Peter Hall, feeling that Pinter used language as effectively as Shakespeare, commissioned the play in the 1960’s and why it well deserves to have been included in our 50th Birthday season. It also confirms how important new writing was in 1965 and why it continues to be for the RSC.
In a later blog, I shall share further memories of other new writing for the company which I experienced in the sixties, including another world premiere!
Tony Boyd-Williams