The Birthday Party

Summer Season Shows

Director : Roger Beaumont

Roger has been acting and directing professionally and in amateur theatre for over 30 years. His last show as a director for the Tower was Speed-The-Plow at Theatro Technis in 2004. More recently, for Questors Theatre, Ealing, he has directed Design for Living, A Streetcar Named Desire, Closer, Duet for One, Waiting for Godot, Festen and Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Recent acting credits include Magwitch in Great Expectations and Max in Rock'n'Roll, both for Questors. His next project is to direct Humble Boy at Questors Studio Theatre in October.

Set Design : Roger Beaumont
Lighting Design : Nick Insley
Sound Design : Phillip Ley
Costume Design : Colette Dockery
Stage Manager : Dinah Irvine

THE BIRTHDAY PARTY, by Harold Pinter

Performance Dates :
Tuesday 8th - Saturday 12th June at 7.45
Matinee on 12th June at 3.00
At the Bridewell Theatre, Bride Lane, off Fleet Street.

Rehearsals will begin in early April.

The Director writes :
The Birthday Party is the first full-length play by Harold Pinter. Its London reception almost ended Pinter's playwriting career. It had already closed when Harold Hobson's belated review, "The Screw Turns Again", appeared in The Sunday Times, rescuing its critical reputation and setting it on the road to become one of the classics of the modern stage
The Birthday Party is set in a seedy boarding house, run by Meg and Petey, a couple in their sixties. There is only one boarder, Stanley, a scruffy, depressed-looking man in his late thirties who may have been a professional pianist.
Three characters arrive in the boarding house from outside: Lulu, a young woman who tries without success to get Stanley to go out with her; Goldberg, a powerful and threatening Jewish man in his fifties; and McCann, an Irishman in his thirties, taciturn and menacing.

The characters are :
Petey : Brian Harris
Meg : Jill Batty
Stanley : Dominic Ward
Lulu : Sarah Brothwell
Goldberg : David Sellar
McCann : Harry Reeder

If you would be interested in working backstage on this show - stage management, lighting, sound or costumes - please get in touch with the Technical Co-ordinator, Aysha Tupman, by E-mail.

Dom Ward joined the Tower by accident, having been press-ganged into a production of The Entertainer in 2001. Having briefly cornered the market in romantic juveniles with roles in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Hot Mikado and Guys and Dolls, Dom went off to train at Mountview Academy. Since then he's broadened his range, starring as an unprincipled cad (Alec D’Urberville in Tess of the D’Urbervilles) an unprincipled rent boy (Sloane in Entertaining Mr Sloane) and an unprincipled Satanist (Martin in Brimstone and Treacle) amongst many others. Dom was also the face of online divorce.

Jill Batty joined the Tower in 1972 playing Clara Eynsford-Hill. Amongst many roles since then have been Portia, Judith Bliss, Lady Bracknell, Vita Sackville-West, Madame Arkadina and Mrs Alving. She was last seen here as Mrs Rafi in The Sea and can often be glimpsed scooting around Islington on her Micro scooter.

The Birthday Party is Sarah Brothwell's first Pinter play and first production at the Tower Theatre. The last production she was in was Stoppard's Rock'n'Roll at the Questors Theatre. Roles played include Nina in The Seagull and Estella in Great Expectations. Sarah lives in Ealing, West London.

David Sellar joined the Tower in 1982 playing the reporter in When We Are Married. He has appeared in many other productions and his most recent role was Sam in The Homecoming earlier this year. David lives in Bounds Green.

Harry Reeder has acted in 23 plays since his first Tower performance in Wesker's Chicken Soup with Barley in 1989. This is Harry's first role in a Pinter play. He lives in Hackney, where Wesker grew up and where Pinter was born.

Formerly with Salford Players Brian Harris has appeared in several Tower productions including The Kitchen and Ghosts. Brian lives in Camden.

Dom Ward joined the Tower by accident, having been press-ganged into a production of The Entertainer in 2001. Having briefly cornered the market in romantic juveniles with roles in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Hot Mikado and Guys and Dolls, Dom went off to train at Mountview Academy. Since then he's broadened his range, starring as an unprincipled cad (Alec D’Urberville in Tess of the D’Urbervilles) an unprincipled rent boy (Sloane in Entertaining Mr Sloane) and an unprincipled Satanist (Martin in Brimstone and Treacle) amongst many others. Dom was also the face of online divorce.	Jill Batty joined the Tower in 1972 playing Clara Eynsford-Hill. Amongst many roles since then have been Portia, Judith Bliss, Lady Bracknell, Vita Sackville-West, Madame Arkadina and Mrs Alving. She was last seen here as Mrs Rafi in The Sea and can often be glimpsed scooting around Islington on her Micro scooter.	The Birthday Party is Sarah Brothwell's first Pinter play and first production at the Tower Theatre. The last production she was in was Stoppard's Rock'n'Roll at the Questors Theatre. Roles played include Nina in The Seagull and Estella in Great Expectations. Sarah lives in Ealing, West London.
David Sellar joined the Tower in 1982 playing the reporter in When We Are Married. He has appeared in many other productions and his most recent role was Sam in The Homecoming earlier this year. David lives in Bounds Green.	Harry Reeder has acted in 23 plays since his first Tower performance in Wesker's Chicken Soup with Barley in 1989. This is Harry's first role in a Pinter play. He lives in Hackney, where Wesker grew up and where Pinter was born.	Formerly with Salford Players Brian Harris has appeared in several Tower productions including The Kitchen and Ghosts. Brian lives in Camden.