'Birthday' lights up Berlind

In 1954, while on tour as an actor, Harold Pinter found himself at a grimy seaside boarding house in Eastbourne, England. His landlords were an older couple, an overbearing heavy woman and her mouse of a husband. The sole other lodger was a quiet, nervous man. Pinter asked the man, "What are you doing here?" The man responded, "Oh well I used to be...I'm a pianist. I used to play in the concert-party here and I gave that up." Pinter asked him why he didn't leave, and the man responded, "There's nowhere else to go." Little did the budding playwright know then that this encounter would be the inspiration for one of his greatest works, The Birthday Party.

The scenario in the play, on stage at the Berlind Theatre this weekend, is almost identical: Stanley (Henry Stram), a confused and troubled man and former pianist, is the only guest at a decrepit boarding house in Eastbourne, run by Meg (Barbara Bryne) and Petey (James A. Stephens). Meg, a befuddled and naïve old lady, leads a small but contented life puttering around the filthy house, while trying valiantly to be the perfect wife to her levelheaded but distant husband.

The play takes place on Stanley's birthday (though Stanley protests that his birthday is still a month away). Meg tells Stanley that two men are planning on staying with them; Stanley is immediately terrified and displays signs of an impending nervous breakdown as his sputtering, disconnected thoughts cause him to jump wildly from elation to fury.

When the two men, Goldberg (Allan Corduner) and his hired accomplice McCann (Randall Newsome), arrive, it is clear that Goldberg and Stanley recognize one another, and that Stanley has, in some way, betrayed and abandoned Goldberg. For some reason, Goldberg proposes to throw Stanley a birthday party. Meg, completely unaware of the imminent danger, is thrilled with the idea, and invites Lulu (Charlotte Parry), a scantily-clad pretty young girl who betrays a secret affection for Stanley. But when the party climaxes in a nightmarish game of blind man's bluff, disaster ensues.

True to form, Pinter displays once again a beautiful command of language, perhaps the only medium that can relay truth in an otherwise absurd world. Consistently controversial, Pinter's plays are subject to opinions at both ends of the spectrum: some critics are frustrated by the ambiguity, while others find this obscurity refreshing. Harold Hobson, a London critic, commented on The Birthday Party, "It is exactly in this vagueness that its spine-chilling quality lies."

It is difficult to convey the singular effect Pinter's plays have on his audience. At the close of this production, directed by Emily Mann, it is clear that something powerful has graced the stage. The difficulty, however, is in trying to pinpoint what made it so moving.

The honest depiction of each character certainly evokes empathy. But determining the root of that empathy is not so easy. The developments of the plot, in reality implausible, are woven together with such grace that the audience is held in captivity, lost in a world of jarring, conflicting messages. Though emotionally wearing and unsatisfying from an analytical perspective, the story is nonetheless peculiarly moving.

The set of this production, designed by Eugene Lee, deserves strong praise. It is detailed, precise, and aware of its space. Old terra cotta ceilings hang sadly over a scraped hardwood floor. A dark, creaky staircase winds up to the shabby second floor. Dusty trinkets and musty dated furniture add to the house's overwhelming feeling of neglect. The edges of the stage extend outward into the front row. Crates, old paintings, and musty rugs are piled beneath its planks, inviting the audience to lodge in the boardinghouse for the evening.

The six-person cast is incredibly strong. The supporting characters, however, are the real standouts of the show. Newsome, Parry, and Stephens all give very performances that reflected a hidden depth and subtlety, leaving the audience yearning for their presence. While Bryne, Corduner, and Stephens are clearly competent, the choices they made with their characters are bold, resulting in characters that are sometimes lacking in believability, falling rather into the trap of a more stylized approach. Indeed, Pinter's ambiguous script forces actors to choose between an over-the-top portrayal and a heavily understated one; while both clearly work, as all six actors gave commendable performances, I have a particular preference for the latter.

In sum, my feelings about this production are reflections of my response to Pinter's work in general: Emily Mann's The Birthday Party was an intense and emotionally wrenching journey, yet one that left me groping desperately for meaning. Perhaps, however, that is what Pinter meant to do. He says of his own work, "To supply an explicit moral tag to an evolving and compulsive dramatic image seems to be facile, impertinent and dishonest. Where this takes place it is not theatre but a crossword puzzle. The audience holds the paper. The play fills in the blanks. Everyone's happy."

The Birthday Party plays at the Berlind Theatre through October 15, 2006. Showtimes are Monday- Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.Order tickets online at www.mccarter.org or by calling 609.258.ARTS (-2787) or 1.888.ARTSWEB.