The Birthday
Party
Harold Pinter
Directed by Aaron
Snook*
Cast: Vincent Lonergan* (Petey), Joseph Stearns* (Stanley), and Philip Winston* (McCann), Mary O’Dowd (Meg), Leah Nuetzel (Lulu), and Will Schutz (Goldberg).
Production Staff: Stephanie Ehemann* (Stage Manager), Anthony Ingram* (Sound Design), Melania Lancy† (Scenic Design), Elise Kauzlaric (Dialect Coach), Elsa Hiltner (Costume Design), Julie E. Ballard (Lighting Design), and Cassie Soliday (Properties Design).
* Denotes Signal Ensemble Member.
† Denotes Signal Artistic Associate.
Stanley Webber, a retired
pianist, is leading a quiet life in a seaside boarding house until
two strangers roll into town. Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold
Pinter seems to be on everyone’s minds in these politically
charged days, from Mary Arrchie’s acclaimed revival of The
Caretaker to the Broadway blockbuster revival of The Homecoming.
Experience how it all began as Signal Ensemble Theatre brings Pinter’s
first full-length play, The Birthday Party, to the Chopin stage.
On Saturday, August 2, one of Harold Pinter’s favorite charities, Amnesty International, will receive $5 from every ticket sold.
What the critics say about The Birthday Party
“Aaron Snook’s intelligent and pitiless staging for Signal Ensemble clues us in early on, and never lets us off the hook.”
Kerry Reid - Chicago Tribune
Full review
“Snook and his precision-tuned cast of six handles its very tricky landscape with exceptional finesse, illuminating several passages that even the most devoted Pinter fan might have missed in earlier productions.”
Hedy Weiss - Chicago Sun Times
Full review
“This entertaining and worthwhile revival stands out as a vehicle for some great performances and a showcase for Pinter’s theatrical language.”
Fabrizio O. Almeida - Newcity
Full review
“Director Snook’s well-managed, disturbingly funny revival conveys the proper sense of benighted dread, thanks in large part to Stearns, who makes clear the oppressive weight of Stanley’s burden without the benefit of being able to name it.”
Kris Vire - Time Out Chicago
Full review
“Teasing and provoking, eliciting laughter and gasps, the menace is still there. Signal Ensemble Theatre’s strong production shows that, fifty years after its first production, Harold Pinter’s “The Birthday Party” has not lost its power to unsettle nor its bizarre humor.”
Zev Valancy - Centerstage
Full review
“A chance to savor Pinter’s menacing ambiguity in an intimate space with a talented cast.”
Jack Hafferkamp - EDGE Chicago
Full review
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