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NO
MAN'S LAND, by Harold Pinter No Man's Land is about two writers, Hirst (Corin Redgrave), a successful poet and Spooner (Hugh Futcher), a failed poet who meet at Jack Straw's Pub on Hampstead Heath and return to Hirst's impressive, if impersonal, home for a drink. Hirst, a writer who has not written or published for quite some time is unable to unlock his creative powers and is trapped, possibly as a result of his own success, in no man's land. His servants, Foster (Gary Shelford) and Briggs (Andy de la Tour) appear at times to have more control over their employer then he has over them. Spooner, a desperate man in need of some sort of haven, tries to awaken Hirst's creative powers thus rescuing them both from the no man's land. This alcohol-fueled play leaves Hirst in a drunken stupor and Spooner locked in the room for the night at the end of act one. The next morning, Hirst, oblivious to the happenings of the night before, greets Spooner with a different name and proceeds to reminisce about their Oxford days. Spooner eventually joins in with Hirst, making connections with the past as he builds up to use the opportunity to ask for a job as his secretary. Alas for Spooner, Hirst is already too far-gone in that day's drunkenness to consider his request. No Man's Land asks more questions than gives answers and is about the inevitability of old age. Whilst the play is about the search for connections, all four characters are given the opportunity to speak uninterrupted and at length about their individual chaos. This is an excellent opportunity to watch remarkable acting under Pinter's perceptive direction. Corin
Redgrave gives a superb performance as the impassive, inebriated Hirst.
Hugh Futcher comes across magnificently as the pathetic Spooner, a
failed man doing menial jobs to sustain himself while desperately
trying to escape no man's land. Written and directed by Harold Pinter, No Man's Land is a ingenious mix of the comical and the disturbing which looks at the ultimate emptiness that can accompany old age and asks what is to be done when there is nothing left to do. Sheelagh
Doyle |