Petey- from Petey’s first appearance, we immediately think he is dull and dreary. He and his wife seemed to have settled in to an everyday routine suitable to their mundane minds. Petey only says one significant thing in the play. ‘Stan, don’t let them tell you what to do.’
Meg Religious Jewish man. Persuasive, powerful, - the knowing of his whole life and past but little about why he’s here. Nostalgic. Nat Goldberg, in his fifties, is the older of the two strangers who come to interrogate and intimidate Stanley before taking him away. He is a polite character, a gentleman in appearance. He also seems to give off superficial good will, inclined to give kindly advice to both his henchman, McCann, and the other characters... He fondly and affectionately recalls his family and events in his early life. He also insists that Meg and the others honour Stanley with a birthday party. Goldberg’s soft heartedness is, however, pure sham. His outward charm and polite manner mask a sadistic nature. This cruelty is first revealed in his initial interrogation of Stanley. It is this disagreement between Goldberg’s calm appearance and his vicious interior that makes him the more sinister of Pinter’s two persecutors.
Language
‘The need to verification is understandable but cannot always be satisfied’
The language in the play is naturalistic stylised idiom. Although the playwright is absurd it follows the rhythm of everyday speech, for example, in the first scene with Meg and Petey, there is a very realistic conversation between them although it is the script is odd and absurd which engages the audience.
The language in ‘the birthday party’ is both absurd and naturalistic; absurd meaning its unnatural, random, challenges the norm by deviating from it but still uses everyday language. The characters use the language as a way of self protection or assertion, often with hints of comic menace such as Stanley often seems to give of a sense of defensive panic in his language.
The language involved can be sparse, broken up with silences and pauses, which convey the absurd and odd rhythm of the spoken language. In class we did exercises using ellipsis in conversations with each other where we see Goldberg using a large degree of ellipsis when he’s lying to Petey
Themes
Absurdity- reality and illusion
Classical- exposition, development (climax) denouement Double act( Goldberg and McCann) Could be a thriller but classical play
Distortion/ Uneasy- Structure is distorted, ambiguous, uncomfortable- play seems to be about nothing- experimental, absurd
Freedom/reactionary- twisting the pay- reconstructing the classical well-made play/ political style- anti establishment
Chaos/isolation/paranoia- interrogation scene- breaking him down
Context
Historical context- cold war
Design elements
One recurring motif in Pinter's work is the image of the single room. Pinter himself spoke of this form as being one of the most pure for the theatre. For Pinter, one room, a few characters, and a door, and the fear of what will come through the door next is all that is necessary for a good play.
Laban
Goldberg – Presser
McCann – Puncher
Stanley – Wringer
Structure and Plot
A simple summery of the plot of the play is ‘Stanley is taking away by two strangers. A strategy Pinter uses is that he distorts he structure and plot. Most common plays have use the order of exposition, development, climax, and dénouement which is known as the well- made play, but Pinter distorts the plot by which adds dramatic effect. There is no justification, and has an ambiguous ending leaving the audience still with questions for example ‘where is Stanley taken?’ or ‘who are Goldberg and McCann?’
An exercise we did in class to explore the themes, structure of form of ‘The Birthday Party’ was where we listened to 4 pieces of music, all very different, and write down images, ideas or thoughts. The first piece was classical song which was slow, sad, quite dark, involves a structure and a climax. The reason it relates is the classical but thriller style of the play. The second piece of music was jazz piece, which we came to the decision of it being the freedom and reactionary part of the play, also twisting the play; Pinter is reconstructing the classical well-made play. The third piece sounded distorted, uneasy which conveys the distorted and ambiguous structure of the play. The play seems to be about nothing Piece 4 sounded chaotic, manic, depressing, it connects with Pinterland which is absurd, peculiar, odd, where it is alike the sound of piece 4. It is original and different, which gives it a sense of isolation.
