NO MAN’S LAND
The master of menace will return to our shores when the Sydney Theatre Company stages Harold Pinter’s No Man’s Land at the Opera House next month.
The works of the celebrated, Nobel Prize-winning British playwright – who died in 2008 after a career spanning 50 years – are renowned for their sense of suspense, sparse dialogue, black humour and impending doom.
No Man’s Land is no different. It was written in 1974 for stage legends Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud and brought back to life by director Michael Gow.
An exploration of friendship and dependency, conspiracy and substance abuse, the play centres around Hirst (John Gaden), a fading poet, and Spooner (Peter Carroll), a free-spirited, moneyed booze hound, drinking themselves through their memories under the gaze of two conspiratorial young servants, Briggs (Andrew Buchanan) and Foster (Steven Rooke).
For Rooke, No Man’s Land marks his debut with STC and a perfect introduction into Pinterland.
“First and foremost, there is menace,” he said. “And usually dark, understated menace. Then there’s usually two people stuck in a room and an unexpected visitor or two. This play certainly ticks all of these boxes.”
Oct 28-Dec 11, Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House, $35-90, 9250 1777, sydneytheatre.com.au
