"Old Times"

Theatre review
"Old Times" at the Kitchen Theatre
Ithaca Times
March 26, 2008
738 words
"Timely Matters"

full text here

Timely Matters
By: Mark Tedeschi
03/26/2008

"Old Times," written by Harold Pinter and directed by Margaret Perry. Starring Greg Bostwick, Leigh Keeley, and Camilla Schade. Scenic design and lighting by Brian Prather, sound design by Don Tindall, and costumes by Hannah Kochman. Stage Managers, Stephen A. Wagner and Kali DiPippo.

I have a theory that there are few marks of fame that carry as much prestige as the illustrious eponymous adjective. Imagine: a word created directly from your name because your work is just that incomparable. Brechtian, Kafkaesque, and Machiavellian are a few representatives of a more exclusive, writers-only list of "auctorial descriptives."

Sometime in Harold Pinter's prolific, Nobel Prize-winning, 50-year career, he earned a spot on that list, though he's refused to admit comprehending what "Pinteresque" actually means. Asked about the word, he says, "What I write is what I write."

Pinter's words may be truer than he realizes. His work is markedly his own, and with discernible trademarks - but after seeing a quality performance of his work, such as the Kitchen Theatre's current production of Old Times, it's almost impossible to agree with such a simplistic description of the experience.

Old Times, written in 1971, comes to the Kitchen under the direction of Margarett Perry and stars Bostwick as Deeley, Schade as his wife Kate, and Keeley as her friend and houseguest Anna.

The story, set in Deeley's and Kate's London farmhouse, takes place over a single evening. They've invited Kate's former best friend and roommate Anna to their house to catch up - a task that proves taxing, since Kate and Anna haven't seen each other in 30 years. The play opens with a conversation between Deeley and Kate before their guest arrives; curiously, Anna, immobile and facing away, stands onstage through the scene, as if her imminent presence already portends the need for a conversational one-upmanship.

Kate and Deeley mostly avoid eye contact with each other while they talk about Anna, and from the get-go, Bostwick delivers Deeley's incendiary dialogue with a sharp quality of announcement that indicates Deeley's intense pride in his words; meanwhile, Kate absorbs his accusatory tone with little protest.

When Anna arrives, it's obvious that Deeley dislikes her, or at least feels threatened by her. He asks prodding questions about her husband, her house, and Kate. Anna won't be dominated so easily and makes moves to take over the course of conversation under the guise of polite responses.

Anna and Deeley recall detailed accounts of past events to "prove" how much of Kate they possess, and eventually, it's every person for him or herself; the degree of truth in their tales begins to matter less than the psychological effect the stories have on the listener. Kate's participation is generally limited to subtle physical demonstrations rather than long monologues, but fear not - she earns their full attention later on.

Pinter's precise, poetic language alternately darts and drifts out of the actors' mouths. His words are a joy to listen to, especially when they're delivered with the scrupulousness of these three players. Anna's aside of "Rather beguilingly so." Sounds a normal line for Pinter, but the subsequent incredulity with which Deeley repeats the line (and the subsequent laughter from the audience) proves Pinter's capability to procure comedy from his own style.

And no evaluation of Pinter would be complete without mention of the "Pinter Pause," a frequent and sometimes comedic signature in his dialogue that can evoke anything from gut-wrenching awkwardness to a comfortable break for thought. They must be delivered wisely for the right effect, though, and the crew at the Kitchen knows this.

The dialogue might be enough to represent an escalating ferocity in Old Times, but the other theatrical elements extend the tenseness as the story progresses. Prather's sparse set of armchairs and divans also contains a large backdrop of interlaced black wooden panels that are surprisingly responsive to his changes in lighting coloration.

Tindall's sound generates just the right amount of nervousness as the low, distant rumble of the sea coincides with a rise in the dramatic tension. And Perry's blocking throughout helps the physicality in their confrontations grow more and more pressing.

After the conversation competition in Old Times reaches its climax, the characters, rendered speechless, play out the finale over a silence too protracted to be lumped into the usual "Pinter Pause" category.

Pinter himself offers little specificity on the plot of Old Times as a whole: "It happens. It all happens." He seems to prefer that his audience interpret (and perhaps insist upon) the events and their meanings, just as his characters offer each other their own interpretations of their own fuzzy memories, coating the nuggets of recollection with an unavoidable sheen of personal agenda.