#Gadgees were privileged to be guests of this special performance by Sir Ian McKellen & Patrick Stewart
@gerry0504
This #Gadgee first saw Sir Ian McKellen on a school outing to the Theatre Royal in a production of Hamlet almost forty years ago!
So he found the 1st act something of an endurance test, because of bladder issues since the main characters were drinking for England!
The opening sequence with Hirst & Spooner was a tour de force of slapstick comic acting, almost balletic in its timing.
The introduction of Foster & Briggs introduced the darker elements of the play.
Pinter produced a darkly tragi-comedy about creativity, life & death which still resonates, although the strong language produced laughter in this performance rather than shock which I presume was the effect originally.
It is tempting to view Hirst/Spooner as an amalgam of Pinter's own character : the successful literary type vs louche loser.
However it is complicated with the Briggs/Foster relationship, one as manservant, the other as amanuensis to Hirst but clearly with homosexual undertones between the duo.
The denouement is perfect in "No Man's Land" with a frozen snapshot between life & death.
