British playwright Harold Pinter, a self-professed "bit of a pain in the arse", turns 75 today. To celebrate BBC 3 are broadcasting a world premiere of his new radio play, Voices, at 9.30pm GMT.
Voices is a collaboration between Pinter and composer James Clarke, specially commissioned by Radio 3, and includes Roger Lloyd-Pack, Douglas Hodge, Andy de la Tour, Indira Varma and Harold Pinter himself in the cast. Please note that the play contains some strong language. Voices will be available to listen again during the two weeks after the broadcast here...
For background, read Alice Jones's profile in last Friday's Independent, Harold Pinter: Fighting cancer but still manages to produce a searing new play:
As he approaches his 75th birthday on Monday, Harold Pinter appears frail and gaunt, leaning heavily on a walking stick decorated, somewhat incongruously, with sparkly stickers. When we meet to celebrate the unveiling of his latest work, Voices, he tells me: "I'm exhausted, I'm at the end of my tether," and admits that he is "not writing anything much at the moment". His formerly stentorian stage voice is notably weakened - a consequence of his battle with cancer of the oesophagus over the last three years. But in Voices, a 29-minute musical-dramatic collaboration with the composer James Clarke, his creative voice rings out as powerfully as ever.
This latest work by the indefatigable playwright will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on his birthday. In February, Pinter appeared to herald his retirement as a playwright, announcing with characteristic terseness: "I think I've stopped writing plays now... I've written 29 plays, isn't that enough?"
Hat tip: Abbas Raza at 3 quarks daily
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