The Homecoming

Nowadays, it is rare for Perth audiences to have the opportunity to sample the plays of Harold Pinter, whose work was so popular in the 60's and 70's. Pinter produced a body of work for the stage, television and film, which earned him an international reputation. In 1967, The Homecoming won the Drama Critics Circle award on Broadway.

Pinter is reputed to have said that he didn't trust language: "Sometimes there's a torrent of words and nothing is said, when a silence can often speak volumes." He saw language solely as a means of attack and defence. His plays are famed for these qualities!"

The Homecoming is anything but a comfortable night out. The laughs - and there are plenty of them - are likely to be drawn through clenched teeth as the audience witness the terrors of a London family reunion.

Max, a widowed invalid pensioner, lives with his two sons Joey, demolition by day - boxer by night, and Lenny, keeps a number of flats around the area, and brother Sam, a chauffeur. Eldest son Teddy, a lecturer in philosophy, arrives home unannounced in the middle of the night after six years in the US with Ruth, "a wonderful wife and mother". Teddy's family don't even know he is married.