This Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night (Oct. 31-Nov 2) you are invited to a party in Goodwin Theater. Or, more precisely, two one act plays by Harold Pinter set at a party: "Party Time" and "A New World Order." I recently had the opportunity to speak with two of the actors in the play: Scott Troost ('05) and Erin Kinney ('05).Tripod: So, what's this play about?
Erin: Okay, basic explanation: it's a very high-class party - all the high-ranking officials are there.
Scott: .and their lady friends.
E: .yet at the same time, characters refer to something going on in the streets. You can say that there are marital troubles, murderers, gossips, power struggles, ego issues.
S: That about explains it.
T: These are two separate one act plays, right?
S: Yeah, but the way it's done, one flows right into the other.
E: They fit so well that you wouldn't realize that they were written in different decades.
T: How do you transition between them?
E: Well, honestly, that's something that you'll just have to wait to see.because it's so damn cool!
T: Oh, okay, mystery - very exciting.
S: Nice, Erin.
E: No, actually, it really is a big point in the show.
T: So, you'd say this play was a social critique of sorts of high society?
E&S: Definitely.
S: The play is almost making caricatures of high society.
E: High society, but more than just that: people in power.
S: .social elite.
E: .government, and ethics. The dialogue sometimes makes these people extremely ridiculous, other times just creepy, other times, you're confused.
S: Pinter is a writer who includes so much subtext in his plays.
E: It's all these little, little things.
T: Do you think this is a play that might be hard to "get" for the audience?
E: Not really, it was much harder for the actors to get. We did all the hard figuring out stuff.
S: I think it's a play that offers the audience the chance to be a detective of sorts- really offers the opportunity to make discoveries about the characters throughout the show.
E: We make it easier by conveying the necessary basics, but definitely leave room for interpretation and thought.
T: Is the ending of the play open for interpretation, or does Pinter have a clear message?
E: There is some interpretation, but you definitely get the point.
S: I think by the end it's pretty clear what the nature of things is for these powerful people.
E: Agreed.
T: So, tell me about your parts.
E: Well, I play a very social woman who knows everything about everybody.
S: Or who thinks she knows everything about everybody, ha! I'm the one who knows everything - a bit of playful contention. My character does the dirty work for the guy running the show. Basically, I'm the right-hand-man of the leader of the government.
E: Well, the thing is, the people at the party probably think that I am just a socialite, but I have more intelligence and knowledge than they give me credit for.
T: Do you think that's a comment on women in power in general or just part of your character?
E: Absolutely. The women are really interesting in the show because some of them are treated terribly and objectified yet they all maintain this subtle dignity. Another issue that the show deals with is freedom of speech. There are subtle references that people make to what's going on "out there." You don't get an explicit explanation, but a really strong sense. You get a strong sense of falseness and you get all these glimpses into the true nature of what's going on and what these people are really thinking. In a way, it's just like parties in general - you put up this image and try to maintain it throughout the night. The thing is, these people aren't so much hiding their personalities as they are ignoring something really big.
S: But for some of these people it's a matter of life and death.
E: Basically, think tension and deceit.
S: If people had thoughts contrary to the power structure, that spells imminent death, so maintaining the mask means survival in this world.
T: Can you say anything about the torture scene in the second act? Or is that top secret too?
S: What do you think, Erin?
E: Well, he hasn't got any idea at all of any one of the number of things that we might do to him.
T: Why are you planning to torture this guy?
E: Well, the thing is, he was shooting his mouth off. You'll just have to see it. It definitely plays with your head a bit.
T: Okay, so why should a person on their deathbed choose this show as the last show they see before they die?
E: Well, tell them that there are a lot of random swears.
S: Ha ha!
T: Oh, profanity, a major plus!
E: .and sex references.
T: That reminds me. Scott, do you wish to comment on your costuming in the second act? Tell me about the Speedo and leather apron. Or is that just a rumor?
E: No! It is a fact. And I get to put the apron on him. Plus, all the guys strip down a bit in the background.
T: Why the near nudity?
E: They don't want to get their clothes dirty...with blood!
T: Oh, scary. It's fitting that it's opening on Halloween. Scott, do you think your appearance in a Speedo will be a good selling point for the play? Erin, feel free to respond as well.
S: No comment. Well, in truth, I think it's made to be a ritualistic preparing for torture.
E: Scott, hmm, that rhymes with a very nice adjective that we often use here a Trinity that begins with an H.
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