Saturday, August 22, 2020

299. "LANDSCAPE" and "SILENCE.' From my (unpublished) ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE NEW YORK STAGE, 1970-1975.

Robert Symonds, Betty Field in "Silence."

“LANDSCAPE” and “SILENCE” [Dramatic Revivals] A: Harold Pinter; D: Jules Irving; S/C: Douglas W. Schmidt; L: John Gleason; P: Repertory Theatre of Lincoln Center; T: Forum Theatre (OB); 2/9/71-2/18/71 (6)

Robert Phalen, Barbara Tarbuck, Robert Symonds in "Landscape."

This pair of Pinter one-acts had premiered in New York only a year earlier at the same theatre. Their “revival” was really a “return engagement,” but with certain cast changes. Jules Irving’s direction and Douglas W. Schmidt’s design were “based on” the earlier showing. “Landscape” now starred Robert Symonds and Betty Field, while “Silence” employed Symonds, Barbara Tarbuck, and Robert Phalen.

These linguistically spare, event-less, memory-laden dramas, fashioned like tone poems, were mainly for Pinter gourmets. They were presented respectably, running briefly in repertory with a revival of Pinter’s The Birthday Party, reported on in an earlier entry.