Review: Albion Theatre’s The Birthday Party Is a Darkly Funny Gift

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John Lamb

From left: Meg, Stanley and McCann in Albion's The Birthday Party.

Let’s acknowledge upfront that the works of Harold Pinter are not to everyone’s taste. The playwright is quite funny but also a bit disturbing. His scripts intentionally create gaps, leaving bits of the story to the audience’s imagination. When well directed and performed, as in the current Albion Theatre production of The Birthday Party, a Pinter play is gloriously disturbing, providing much thoughtful fodder.

Stanley is the only guest at the middling rooming house run by Meg. Though, by the way she treats him, her husband Petey almost seems to be a guest himself. Stanley is content to remain in his room most of the time, though the flirtatiously nurturing Meg does her best to lure him out. Even comely neighbor Lulu can’t seem to get Stanley out of doors. When Petey announces that two gentlemen will soon be arriving for a short stay, Stanley becomes highly agitated and paranoid, trying to wish the gentleman away. His efforts fail, the men arrive with a sinister flair and a chaotic evening of revelry, games, dancing and nefarious debauchery ensues. 

Ted Drury is pointedly enigmatic and purposefully vague as the suspicious Stanley. There’s a predilection for logic that accompanies the clouds of paranoia and discontent circling around his character, though he proves spry and quite capable of self-defense, if also a touch manic. Teresa Doggett is the extreme stereotype of the busybody housewife as Meg, with an air of lonely desperation bred from years of boredom. She’s also humorously daft and slow on the uptake, creating multiple comic opportunities. 

Chuck Winning is spot on as the smiling, politely obsequious mid-level mobster Goldberg, while Nick Freed gives his accomplice McCann a menacing, cold-blooded killer’s stare that is at once disturbingly chilling and increasingly funny. Perhaps it’s the nervous tension in the room, but the more McCann intimidates, the more laughs he elicits. The interplay between Drury, Winning and Freed is particularly engrossing, ensuring audible gasps at the closing of act two, even from those familiar with the script. Robert Ashton, as Petey, is quite circumspect though he reveals an understanding of the situation that makes one wonder about his motives, and Summer Baer, as Lulu, provides solid support and important details that help keep the audience engrossed. 

Director Suki Peters creates focus and keeps the action, and the building sense of impending doom, almost non-stop, a considerable accomplishment for the wordy script. The script is so packed with possibilities that it can quite easily get out of control, turning a tense, psychologically layered story into a messy bit of slapstick. With a firm hand, Peters gets finely honed performances with an edge that perfectly suits Pinter’s play. Pinter is not for all audiences, some people just won’t enjoy the untidiness of the devilishly twisted, darkly funny The Birthday Party. To be successful, the play demands precise execution and Peters and the cast deliver with aplomb. While the story and outcomes are neither neat nor straightforward, audiences who can embrace the uncertainty and absurdity will enjoy the top-notch production.