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Home , Berberian Sound Studio, Hugh Vanstone, Ian Charleson, Ian Rickson, Mackenzie Crook, Peter Wight (actor)

PRESS RELEASE – Tuesday 6th March 2018

IMAGES CAN BE DOWNLOADED HERE

@BdayPartyLDN / TheBirthdayParty.

Sonia Friedman Productions in association with Rupert Gavin, Tulchin Bartner Productions, 1001 Nights Productions, Scott M. Delman present

THE BIRTHDAY PARTY By Directed by Ian Rickson

 CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED 60th ANNIVERSARY REVIVAL OF THE BIRTHDAY PARTY ENTERS FINAL WEEKS AT THE

 STRICTLY LIMITED WEST END RUN STARRING , STEPHEN MANGAN, ZOË WANAMAKER AND MUST COME TO AN END ON 14TH APRIL

Audiences now have just five weeks left to see the critically acclaimed West End production of playwright Harold Pinter’s The Birthday Party. The company for the major revival, which runs 60 years since the play’s debut, includes Toby Jones, Stephen Mangan, Zoë Wanamaker, Pearl Mackie, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor and Peter Wight, and is directed by Ian Rickson.

Stanley Webber (Toby Jones) is the only lodger at Meg (Zoë Wanamaker) and Petey Boles’ (Peter Wight) sleepy seaside boarding house. The unsettling arrival of enigmatic strangers Goldberg (Stephen Mangan) and McCann (Tom Vaughan-Lawlor) disrupts the humdrum lives of the inhabitants and their friend Lulu (Pearl Mackie), and mundanity soon becomes menace when a seemingly innocent birthday party turns into a disturbing nightmare. Truth and alliances hastily shift in Pinter's brilliantly mysterious dark-comic masterpiece about the absurd terrors of the everyday. The production is designed by the Quay Brothers, with lighting by Hugh Vanstone, music by Stephen Warbeck, sound by Simon Baker, and casting by Amy Ball. For more information visit TheBirthdayParty.London -ENDS-

For further information please contact The Corner Shop PR on 020 7831 7657 Maisie Lawrence [email protected] / Ben Chamberlain [email protected]

LISTINGS

Sonia Friedman Productions in association with Rupert Gavin, Tulchin Bartner Productions, 1001 Nights Productions, Scott M. Delman present THE BIRTHDAY PARTY BY HAROLD PINTER Directed by Ian Rickson Design – Quay Brothers Lighting – Hugh Vanstone Music – Stephen Warbeck Sound – Simon Baker Casting – Amy Ball

Harold Pinter Theatre Panton Street, SW1Y4DN

Final performance: Saturday 14th April 2018 Performance schedule: Monday – Saturday 7.30pm, Wednesday and Saturday matinees at 2.30pm.

TheBirthdayParty.London Twitter: @BdayPartyLDN Facebook: @BdayPartyLDN Instagram: @BdayPartyLDN #TheBirthdayParty

BOX OFFICE: 0844 871 7622 Calls cost 7p per minute, plus your phone company's access charge Groups Bookings: 020 7206 1174 Calls cost 7p per minute, plus your phone company's access charge Access Bookings: 0800 912 6971 Calls cost 7p per minute, plus your phone company's access charge Customer Service: 0844 871 7627

Over 20,000 tickets at 30 or under Tickets from just £15 Premium tickets are available

NOTES TO EDITORS

TOBY JONES British Actor Toby Jones is known for his roles both in the theatre and on screen. This year Toby can be seen in French comedy film Naked Normandy for Philippe le Gay, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Lionsgate’s World War One drama Journey’s End. Towards the end of last year Toby starred in a further three films including - Universal Pictures’ crime drama The Snowman, psychological indie thriller, Kaleidoscope and Michael Haneke’s Palme d’Or nominated film, Happy End. Toby also reprised his BAFTA-nominated role in the third and final season of the award-winning comedy series , written by and co-starring Mackenzie Crook. Toby's other works include Infamous,‎ where Toby played ‘Truman Capote’ for which he won Best British Actor at the London Film Critics Circle Awards. In 2011, Toby starred in the Oscar-nominated adaptation of John le Carre’s classic crime novel Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and the year after, Toby garnered huge critical acclaim for his performance as Alfred Hitchcock in the HBO/BBC television movie The Girl, for which he received a BAFTA, Golden Globe and Emmy nomination. That year also saw Toby play the lead in Peter Strickland’s multi award-winning film Berberian Sound Studio. In 2014, Toby starred as the lead in the BBC Two BAFTA winning drama Marvellous, and the following year in Matteo Garrone’s fantasy horror, Tale Of Tales.

Further credits include: Atomic Blonde, Sherlock, Dad’s Army, The Secret Agent, The Witness For The Prosecution, Morgan, Wayward Pines, Capital, The Man Who Knew Infinity, The Hunger Games series, the Harry Potter series, Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Leave to Remain, Andrew Kotting’s By Ourselves, My Week With Marilyn, , Frost/Nixon, W and The Painted Veil.

Theatre credits include: Circle Mirror Transformation (Royal Court), The Painter (Arcola), Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (National Theatre), Parlour Song (), Dumb Waiter and Other Pinter Pieces (Oxford Playhouse), Measure for Measure (with Complicite) (National Theatre), The Play What I Wrote (winner: Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor) (West End/Broadway).

STEPHEN MANGAN is a stage, film, television and voice actor. After graduating from Cambridge University and then RADA, Stephen began his acting career in the theatre. In 2008 he starred in at and then on Broadway. Stephen was nominated for a Tony Award and the play won Best Revival. Other theatre credits include: Birthday, The People Are Friendly (), and Wooster (Duke of York’s Theatre), Hayfever (), Midsummer Night’s Dream (RSC) and Rules For Living (National Theatre).

Stephen has an extensive list of television credits. He plays the lead role of Sean Lincoln in the comedy series Episodes, opposite and Matt LeBlanc. This year he can also be seen starring in the comedy series Bliss for Sky Atlantic, Hang Ups for and Abi Morgan’s BBC1/AMC drama The Split. Previous TV credits include the BAFTA-winning British , Free Agents, Dirk Gently, in which he played the title role, Houdini & Doyle.

Stephen’s film credits include Breathe, , Birthday, : The Movie (Voice), Rush, Beyond the Pole, Confetti.

The multi-award-winning ZOË WANAMAKER CBE is one of the most acclaimed actresses of her generation, with a career that spans both stage and screen. She is a four-time Tony Award nominee, and a nine-time Olivier Award nominee, winning the Best Actress Award twice for Electra and Once In A Lifetime. Her career has taken her from the RSC to the National Theatre via Broadway, the Royal Court, the West End and the . Her varied television career has included the much- loved BBC sitcom My Family, along with Poirot and Mr. Selfridge. She received a BAFTA nomination for her role in the film Wilde, with other film credits including Harry Potter and My Week With Marilyn. Most recently Zoë appeared in the Sky/Amazon collaboration Britannia as Queen Antedia and in Girlfriends for ITV.

Her film credits include: My Week With Marilyn, It’s a Wonderful Afterlife, Five Children and It, Harry Potter, Swept from the Sea, Wilde, The Raggedy Rawney, The Hunger, Inside the Third Reich, The Last 10 Days of Hitler. Television includes: Girlfriends, Inside No. 9, Babs, Britannia, Mr Selfridge, Poirot, Wodehouse in Exile, The Man, My Family, Old Curiosity Shop, Johnny and the Bomb, Waste of Shame, Dr Who, Miss Marple, The Cappuccino Years, David Copperfield, Leprechaun, Gormanghast, A Dance to the Music of Time, The Widowing of Mrs Holroyd, The English Wife, Countless Alice, Memento Mori, The Blackheath Poisonings, Love Hurts and Prime Suspect.

PEARL MACKIE recently starred opposite Peter Capaldi in the BBC’s Doctor Who as the Doctor’s companion ‘Bill’. Pearl’s casting was announced in the original short film Friend from the Future, written by Steven Moffat. Also starring Matt Lucas and Michelle Gomez, the tenth series of the globally popular show premiered in April 2017 to critical acclaim. From 2015-6, Pearl appeared in the National Theatre’s Olivier and Tony award-winning The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. She has also starred as ‘Nina’ in Theatre503’s 2012 play Only Human and co-starred in the European premiere of Aurin Squire’s Obama-ology at the Finborough Theatre. In 2013, Pearl appeared alongside , Michael Socha and Maxine Peake in the comedy film Svengali, directed by John Hardwick. Further theatre credits include: A Mad World, My Masters (2015); Hello Kind World (2014); Crystal Springs (2014); Home (2012); The Crucible (2010); And (2010). TOM VAUGHAN-LAWLOR trained at RADA. His theatre credits include: The Plough and the Stars, Juno and the Paycock, Translation (National Theatre); Howie the Rookie (Barbican London/ BAM NY); Our Few and Evil Days, The Rivals, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Three Sisters, Saved, , The Playboy of the Western World (Abbey Theatre); 55 Days (Hampstead Theatre); (West End); Molly Sweeney (Curve Leicester); Philadelphia, Here I Come! (Gaiety Theatre, Dublin); The Lady from the Sea (Birmingham Rep); Henry V (Royal Exchange Manchester); The Field (Tricycle Theatre) and The Lime Tree Bower ().

His television work has included: The Secret Agent, Trial of the Century, Charlie, Love / Hate, and Peaky Blinders. Film includes: Avengers: Infinity War, The Cured, Maze, Daphne, The Infiltrator, The Secret Scripture, Becoming Jane, and A Tiger's Tale.

He has won multiple awards, including: Irish Times Best Actor Award for Howie the Rookie; Irish Times Best Actor Award for The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui; Ian Charleson commendation for Henry V and the Irish Film and Television Best Actor Award for Love / Hate.

PETER WIGHT’S theatre credits include: (Almeida/West End); The Red Lion, Ivanov, Sleep With Me, Murmuring Judges, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Black Snow, Waiting for Godot (National Theatre); (Royal Court/Broadway); Trelawny of The Wells (Donmar Warehouse); , Chekhov's Women (West End); The Spanish Tragedy, , Barbarians, A Clockwork Orange, Hamlet (RSC); In The Republic of Happiness, In Basildon, Face to the Wall, Not A Game for Boys (Royal Court); The Caretaker (Globe Theatre Warsaw); Edward II, Mouth to Mouth (Royal Exchange, Manchester); Dearly Beloved, Grace (Hampstead Theatre); A State of Affairs, , Commedia, Progress (Lyric ); (Riverside Studios); A Passion in Six Days, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Nest (Sheffield Crucible); , The Three Sisters (Birmingham Rep); Hard To Get (Traverse ).

His television work includes: Vanity Fair, Brief Encounters, I Want My Wife Back, Our Zoo, The Mimic, The Paradise, Hit and Miss, Public Enemies, Titanic, Money, Monday Monday, Boy Meets Girl, 10 Days to War, Party Animals, Eastenders, Persuasion, Fantabulosa!, Early Doors, Room at the Top, The Security Men, and Uncle Adolf. Film includes: The Program, Mr Turner, King of Soho, Brakes, Only You, Kon-Tiki, Hard Boiled Sweets, Clone, Atonement, Hot Fuzz, Lassie, Babel, Pride and Prejudice, The Statement, Lucky Break, Shiner and with Mike Leigh, Another Year, Mr Turner, , Naked, Secrets & Lies and Meantime.

IAN RICKSON was Artistic Director at the Royal Court from 1998 to 2006, during which time he directed Krapp’s Last Tape, The Winterling, Alice Trilogy, The Sweetest Swing in Baseball, Fallout, The Night Heron, Boy Gets Girl, Mouth to Mouth (also in the West End), Dublin Carol, The Weir (also in the West End and on Broadway), The Lights, Pale Horse and Mojo (also at the Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago), Ashes & Sand, Some Voices and Killers. His last production for the Royal Court, The Seagull, transferred to Broadway. Other theatre includes Against (The Almeida), The Goat (West End), The Nest (Lyric, Belfast and Young Vic), Evening At The Talkhouse (NT), The Red Lion ((NT), The River (Broadway), Electra (Old Vic), Mojo (West End), Old Times (West End), The River (Royal Court), Hamlet (Young Vic), Jerusalem (Royal Court, West End and Broadway), (Comedy Theatre), The Children’s Hour (Comedy Theatre), The Hothouse and The Day I Stood Still (NT), Parlour Song (Almeida), Hedda Gabler (Roundabout Theatre, New York), The House of Yes (Gate) and Me & My Friend (Chichester Festival Theatre). Film includes: Fallout, Krapp’s Last Tape and The Clear Road Ahead. Radio; In Therapy (Radio 4).

HAROLD PINTER CH CBE was born in London in 1930. He lived with Antonia Fraser from 1975 until his death on Christmas Eve 2008. (They were married in 1980).

After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and the Central School of Speech and Drama, he worked as an actor under the stage name David Baron. Following his success as a playwright, he continued to act under his own name, on stage and screen. He last acted in 2006 when he appeared in Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape at the Royal Court Theatre, directed by Ian Rickson.

He wrote twenty-nine plays including The Birthday Party, The Dumb Waiter, A Slight Ache, The Hothouse, The Caretaker, The Collection, The Lover, The Homecoming, Old Times, No Man’s Land, Betrayal, A Kind of Alaska, One For The Road, The New World Order, Moonlight and Ashes to Ashes. Sketches include The Black and White, Request Stop, That’s your Trouble, Night, Precisely, Apart From That, and the recently rediscovered Umbrellas. He directed twenty-seven theatre productions, including James Joyce's Exiles, David Mamet's Oleanna, seven plays by (one of which was Butley in 1971 which he directed the film of three years later) and many of his own plays including his last, Celebration, paired with his first, The Room at the Almeida Theatre, London in the spring of 2000.

He wrote twenty-one screenplays including The Pumpkin Eater, The Servant, The Go-Between, The French Lieutenant's Woman and Sleuth.

In 2005 he received the Nobel Prize for Literature. Other awards include the Companion of Honour for services to Literature, the Legion D’Honneur, the European Theatre Prize the Laurence Olivier Award and the Moliere D'Honneur for lifetime achievement. In 1999 he was made a Companion of Literature by the Royal Society of Literature. Harold Pinter was awarded eighteen honorary degrees.