The Homecoming, The Almeida Theatre, London

Danny Dyer, Nigel Lindsay, Kenneth Cranham, and Anthony O'Donnell in the Almeida production of Harold Pinter's The Homecoming.

Rating: ***/5

Friday, 1 February 2008.

Okay, I admit it. I don't know very much Pinter. So it's no wonder that I went into the production of one of Harold Pinter's most noted works, The Homecoming, with a relatively blank slate. 

I knew there was a production on in New York at the same time, starring Raul Esparza and Eve Best, but not much more than that.

So faced with this naturalistic production of a play about as far from naturalism in its dialogue as it's possible for a domestic drama to be, needless to say, I was confused. 

Set in North London, Teddy brings his new wife, Ruth, back to meet his family, including his father Max, played with vigor by Kenneth Cranham. They meet her with mixed and varied reactions. Ultimately, the thing's supposed to work out to some sort of daughter/mother/whore allegory, by which the character of Ruth is supposed to represent and reflect upon different manifestations of womanhood throughout humanity.

Maybe it was just me, but I didn't really get it.

I was out to drinks when a woman who did her PhD on Pinter and tried to explain his methods to me. "It's not meant to be analyzed," she said. "Just watch it, and make whatever of it you can at the time." 

I couldn't make much of it at the time; maybe others will. Fascinating? Yes. Satisfying? No. See for yourself.