...for our production of The Birthday Party by Harold Pinter. These resources are divided into 2 parts. Part 1 is intended to give an insight into Pinter, his style of writing and the play itself by looking at previous productions of The Birthday Party. Generally aimed at Higher Drama students, this pack complements units 1, 2 and 3 of the syllabus. However, these resources are also useful for the Knowledge and Understanding elements of Standard Grade as well as the Special Study for Advanced Higher Drama. I have collated information from various sources in order to provide material for use before your students see TAG’s production. In September 2003, Part 2 will be available to download from TAG’s website. This section of the resources will focus on the process of creating our production of The Birthday Party. It will include contributions from the Director, the Designer, the Performers and other members of the creative team. I hope that Part 2 will open up TAG’s working methods and provide a real insight into how a theatre company works. Please feel free to reproduce any section of the on-line resources for your use in the classroom. We are always aiming to provide the most effective and beneficial resources for teachers and so please do offer any comments you have regarding either part of this pack. We welcome and appreciate all feedback. I very much hope that you and your pupils find the resources useful and enjoy TAG’s production of The Birthday Party. Emily Ballard Education...
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...The Birthday Party , Harold Pinter – Act 1 The Birthday Party by Harold Pinter is a play which explores many themes including binary options like insanity vs. sanity and even the conventions of society. In 1958 when “The Birthday Party” was first performed in London it received a lot of criticism due to the fact that it was very complicate to comprehend and the characters didn’t seem to have the same popular structure as many plays did in that time e.g. Stock characters\stereotypical characters, as a matter of fact the play was infested with characters who were suffering from a serious case of insanity. However as a modern audience of the birthday party people are more open to research into the deeper meaning of what Shakespeare was perhaps trying to portray under the surface of the plot. In Act 1 of The Birthday Party we are flooded with a wide range of mundane images but the dialogue used in the scene creates a strange atmosphere to what we would expect in an everyday environment. The act begins with the everyday situation of husband and wife sitting at the breakfast table alongside their tenant Stanley who joins them. Shakespeare tries to enforce the idea of realism in this act by using objects such as the tenant Stanley eating cornflakes and talking to the landlady Meg. However Shakespeare turns this around through conversation “Those lovely flakes? You’re a liar, a little liar” This is an abnormal way for a landlady to treat her tenant , the phrase “You’re a little...
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...Is Meg presented simply as a comic fool? In The Birthday Party, Pinter makes Meg a fool so that the audience can feel above her. The establishment of the audience’s feeling of superiority is, for me, best exemplified in the discourse between Meg and Petey: PETEY. ‘there’s a new show coming to the Palace….’No singing or dancing’. MEG. ‘What do they do then?’ PETEY. ‘They just talk (pause)’ MEG. ‘Oh’. This device ridicules Meg, as the audience obviously comprises a group of people who enjoy shows in which ‘they just talk’. Pinter therefore uses mockery of class and lack of intelligent understating as a comedic device with Meg. Pinter uses dramatic irony to push this, like Meg’s speech in Act 2, which confirms her naivety. This conforms to conventional clichés of the comedy genre, in which class and social aspects are frequently used. Studies have shown[1] that the middle class use comedy to assert social authority as a form of veiled snobbery, suggesting that Meg is simply a comic fool. However, I see Meg less as a simple source of humour but more as a moving representation of isolation. A lot of the humour when Meg is portrayed as a comic fool, and thus the conforming to the comic genre arises out of her general social awkwardness. The non-sequiturs and awkward pauses highlight her social ineptitude, contrasting deeply the mellow tones of Petey, like in the discourse: ‘PETEY: Yes, it gets light later in winter’, to which Meg replies simply ‘Oh. (Pause) What are you reading...
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...A Disappointing Occasion In "Birthday Party" by Katharine Brush, her use of juxtaposition and irony aide in producing a strong description of a sorrowful event. Throughout the passage, Brush uses juxtaposition to show the underlying ,earning of the passage. In the first few sentences, she classifies the woman as "fadingly pretty" insinuating that although once pretty, she no longer exhibits much beauty, making her mediocre in her physical presentation (Brush 123). Although the scene is presented as cute and happy, it becomes obvious that the underlying tone of the scene is pathetic, as the woman is plane and the couples interaction is awkward and unnecessary. As the author continues to describe the event, she writes that the woman presented a...
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...Michael has an amusement park called Fantasy Land located on his property. Michael decided to give his son a birthday party at his home and invited all his friends to Fantasy Land to celebrate. Tommy, a ten-year-old boy, attended the birthday party for Michael's son. All the children were playing on all the rides and having a good time. In the afternoon, Michael emphatically announced to all the children that the Fantasy Land was closed. After the hired attendants cleared the park of children and moved them to Michael’s home, the attendants all left. While other children and their parents were inside Michael's house eating cake and watching the birthday boy opening presents, Tommy sneaked out an unlocked door leading to the amusement park. While Michael was in the kitchen getting more ice cream for the party, he looked out the window in the house and saw Tommy get on the Floaty Boat Ride. While Tommy was getting onto the ride, he stood up and fell into the water, hitting his head on the edge. Tommy sustained a large laceration to his head, and then sank below the surface of the water. Michael ran out and pulled Tommy out of the water. When Tommy arrived at the hospital, Doctor prescribed improper medication that resulted in some permanent brain damage to Tommy. Tommy, through an appointed guardian, has sued Michael. What legal claim and defenses should be asserted in the suit by Tommy against Michael? Against Doctor? Discuss. I need this in Exam IRAC...
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...Michael has an amusement park called Fantasy Land located on his property. Michael decided to give his son a birthday party at his home and invited all his friends to Fantasy Land to celebrate. Tommy, a ten-year-old boy, attended the birthday party for Michael's son. All the children were playing on all the rides and having a good time. In the afternoon, Michael emphatically announced to all the children that the Fantasy Land was closed. After the hired attendants cleared the park of children and moved them to Michael’s home, the attendants all left. While other children and their parents were inside Michael's house eating cake and watching the birthday boy opening presents, Tommy sneaked out an unlocked the door leading to the amusement park. While Michael was in the kitchen getting more ice cream for the party, he looked out the window in the house and saw Tommy get on the Floaty Boat Ride. While Tommy was getting onto the ride, he stood up and fell into the water, hitting his head on the edge. Tommy sustained a large laceration to his head, and then sank below the surface of the water. Michael ran out and pulled Tommy out of the water. When Tommy arrived at the hospital, Doctor prescribed improper medication that resulted in some permanent brain damage to Tommy. Tommy, through an appointed guardian, has sued Michael. What legal claim and defenses should be asserted in the suit by Tommy against Michael? Against Doctor?...
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...Deciding the best location for an event is critical to the event’s overall success, choosing a venue can be a daunting process especially as there are so many things to consider in the decision making process. In the case of Christina’s husband’s birthday party, using the information she provided me, was able to narrow down 3 (three) venues that best suits her needs, using the following as my deciding factor. Capacity: The number of guest that I was inviting, and the type of party I am planning is key e.g., 40th birthday party, buffet too help determine the size of the venue I require. Location: Making sure the location is easily accessible for the guest, putting in mind there are parking spaces, good transport links and accommodation nearby worked for me. Availability: Identifying several possible dates for the party, putting in mind if it was to be held at the weekend, some venues book up very far in advance, if I was working to a tight time scale I may to consider a week day. Budget= The budget would have a major impact on narrowing down a short list of venues, knowing what the budget is helps not to overstretch oneself on the venue in an effort to impress people, then find you have little left in the kitty to actually make the experience enjoyable for your guest, at this stage I wouldn’t know what the final costs one going to be but the venue will be able to give a rough picture figure per head for certain elements. It was after using the above to narrow the venues...
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...from India where he acquired it by theft and murder during the Siege of Seringapatam. Angry at his family, who shun him, he leaves it in his will as a birthday gift to his niece Rachel, thus exposing her to attack by the stone's hereditary guardians, who, legend says, will stop at nothing to retrieve it. Rachel wears the stone to her birthday party, but that night it disappears from her room. Suspicion falls on three Indian jugglers who have been near the house; on Rosanna Spearman, a maidservant who begins to act oddly and who then drowns herself in a local quicksand; and on Rachel herself, who also behaves suspiciously and is suddenly furious with Franklin Blake, with whom she has previously appeared to be enamoured, when he directs attempts to find it. Despite the efforts of Sergeant Cuff, a renowned detective, the house party ends with the mystery unsolved, and the protagonists disperse. During the ensuing year there are hints that the diamond was removed from the house and may be in a London bank vault, having been pledged as surety to a moneylender. The Indian jugglers are still nearby, watching and waiting. Rachel's grief and isolation increase, especially after her mother dies, and she first accepts and then rejects a marriage proposal from her cousin Godfrey Ablewhite, a philanthropist who was also present at the birthday dinner and whose father owns the bank near Rachel's old family home. Finally Franklin Blake returns from travelling abroad and determines to solve the...
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...21 years old birthday party so that we would like to ask for the professional advises and service. At first, they provide three plans for us to choose, romantic, warm or Hawaii type. The agency introduce these project one by one to us patiently. He clarified all the details, from price, venue to the facility include in the project. After discussion, my sister prefer a warm style because all the participants are friends and family members, she prefer a warm gathering for all. Furthermore, we discuss for the suitable plan at the fair price for us to afford. We sign a contract and pay the deposit for the project. The agency keep update with us the progress of the project, and he sent the photo to us time to time to let us choose the design of those decoration. The event company have co-operate with a restaurant to prepare the buffet dishes for the party. Besides that, we have to choose about five difference dessert for the party, and we have the chance to try those dessert before we choose. They also prepare some performances for the birthday party to warm up the atmosphere. We choose some songs for the live band and they promise that they will arrange well for us. It was one day before the party, the agency call us and said that the decoration part, due to the workers misunderstanding about the requirement, they have order for the wrong items. All the decoration is under the Romantic theme. He apologize to us and ask our willingness to continue the party. My sister is...
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...no these costs will be allocated to the birthday party business; advertising costs are not allocated to either product. Although the director only spent approximately 20% of her time in administration, the other full-time teachers doing the same teaching jobs earned $20,000 per year, then for the director’s $50,000 annual salary, $20,000 should attribute to teaching and the remained $30,000 should attribute to administration. See Appendix D – how to calculate the gross margin of birthday party business under current cost system. Advantages: TRU’s current cost system is extremely simple. Since the company had been using this existing cost system for several decades, the director should be very familiar with it and can handle all the numbers herself, no other accountant is needed. Under the current cost system, no building related costs and advertising costs were allocated to the birthday parties; then the company was able to significantly underprice its competitors, such as children’s gyms, arts and crafts stores, and museums, while maintaining a very high profit margin. If all the birthday party services were similar, then the customers could be price elastic, and TRU would have price advantages than its competitors and could increase its market share of birthday party business in the area. With a 55.65% gross margin, TRU’s strategy of market niche seemed to be very successful, whether or not to expand the birthday party business, the answer is definitely positive...
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...of potential skating options for the upcoming birthday party. An analysis of both Skate and Fun Zone and Cavalier found that, although both alternatives offered great options, Cavalier better met our chosen criteria in cost, food options, and operating time. It is therefore the recommendation that we utilize Cavalier for my daughter’s upcoming birthday party. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to research potential party choices. I appreciate your consideration of my recommendation. Should you have any questions regarding this report, please do not hesitate to contact me at (540) 295-3447. Sincerely, Kendra Holmes Enclosure: Justification Report Table of Contents Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………….4 Problem Statement ………………………………………………………………………4 Report Overview ………………………………………………………………………4 Overview of Alternatives ………………………………………………………………5 Criteria ………………………………………………………………………………5 Research Methods ………………………………………………………………………5 Evaluation of Alternatives ………………………………………………………………6 Findings and Analysis ………………………………………………………………6 Recommendation ………………………………………………………………………7 References ………………………………………………………………………………8 Executive Summary This report examines the feasibility of two roller skating rinks for the upcoming birthday party. Methods of analysis include calls to each rink as well as Internet research to evaluate cost, menus, operating times, customer reviews, and investigate overall party...
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...The most important birthday of my life is my 11th birthday .I remember as its yesterday. It was a beautiful Saturday morning when I woke up due to a loudly noise. It was 8:00 am then I knew that it was October 12, my birthday. I took a long, cold shower to calm myself down and got dressed. I was too excited. I was still in bed when all of the sudden I started to hear noise at the outside of my room. I went down stairs to the kitchen. Just as I entered the kitchen I became aware of a delicious smell. My mom had prepared French toast which is my favorite breakfast. She was cutting tomatoes into cubic pieces. The cutting noise could hear by my room. It was now 11am. I was helping my mom prepare the chicken wings. A birthday party must be planned effectively to goal its success I had been looking forward to the party for at least two months. It cannot be a last minute planning. I will not be caught unprepared again. I‘ve been concentrated on the planning of the party for a month. Everyone had read the RSVP deadline and called in a week ahead of schedule. The weather was sunny so I didn’t have doubt about bad weather. I was keep tracking of forecast a week. It was to be my first party at our new house. There are only a few hours till my party starts. I set up the new stereo system. When the time drew near for me to be ready for the party, I put on my birthday dress which I was specially sewn for me. Suddenly I hear a knock on the...
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...morning classes ran from 9:00 a.m. to noon, and the afternoon meetings ran from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Lunch was not served in either class. However, each class served a snack to the children. Class size varied from nine to 15 students per class. Although there was a lot of pressure from parents to reduce class sizes, a recent article in an industry newsletter showed that, given current demographics, the market for such programs could increase by 10% a year for the next five years. The year before, a parent suggested that the school begin hosting birthday parties on the weekend. Since FF's three classrooms were empty during this time, it seemed like a good use of the space and could generate additional revenue. Over the past year, the school had managed to quickly build a sizable side business hosting birthday parties. Approximately 150 parties were held in the school's three classrooms on Saturdays and Sundays throughout the year. The parties were typically attended by 10-20 children and ran for approximately four hours. The four-hour running time included the time necessary to set up and clean up the facility. For this service, the school's main competitors consisted of children's gyms, arts and crafts...
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...there are private parties held in this room. The room includes a luxury bar, restaurant, full cocktail bar, large screen TV’s, and decor rich in baseball history. If a private party would like to rent the Hank Sauer Room, the rental fee is $500 with menu options starting at $18 for adults and $10 for children. Three are 35 tickets included in the rental free price with additional tickets costing only $5 each. Parties can also pre-purchase parking passes for $5. Last year, the Chiefs hosted specially-themed meals for their fans to attend. The events included a Saranac Craft Beer buffet, a Cinco de Mayo dinner, a Mother’s Day brunch, and a Father’s Day Brunch this season. The Saranac Craft Beer buffet allowed the Saranac Matt Brewing Company to...
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...In the fictional novel, Maniac Magee, by Jerry Spinelli, the main character, Jeffery Magee, is an orphan who is searching for a caring family. I am grateful to have a loving family that I can make wonderful memories with. Two of my favorite family memories are my 5th birthday and my 8th birthday party. I remember that the day of my 5th birthday was a gorgeous, spring day, the sky was light blue without a cloud in sight. My parents had surprised me by taking me to Disneyland (at the time I was a huge Disney fan). I was ecstatic that I would get to meet all the Disney characters, and I loved going inside of a castle and taking pictures with all the Disney princesses. After that I went on some rides, my favorite ride was a ride where we got on...
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