  no man's land is an absurdist play by harold pinter written in 1974 and first produced and published in 1975. its original production was at the old vic theatre in london by the national theatre on 23 april 1975, and it later transferred to wyndhams theatre, july 1975 â january 1976, the lyttelton theatre aprilâmay 1976, and new york octoberâdecember, returning to the lyttelton, januaryâfebruary 1977. ==setting== "a large room in a house in north west london" on a summer night and the following morning.harold pinter, no man's land (new york: grove, 1975) [n. pag., 8â9]. (subsequent parenthetical page references throughout are to this ed.) ==characters== *hirst, a man in his sixties *spooner, a man in his sixties *foster, a man in his thirties *briggs, a man in his forties hirst is an alcoholic upper-class litterateur who lives in a grand house presumed to be in hampstead, with foster and briggs, respectively his purported amanuensis and man servant (or apparent bodyguard), who may be lovers. spooner, a "failed, down-at-heel poet" whom hirst has "picked up in a hampstead pub" and invited home for a drink, becomes hirst's house guest for the night; claiming to be a fellow poet, through a contest of at least-partly fantastic reminiscences, he appears to have known hirst at university and to have shared mutual male and female acquaintances and relationships. the four characters are named after cricket players.(billington, harold pinter 245â46) ==plot synopsis== ===act 1=== a man in his sixties named hirst begins a night of heavy drinking (mainly scotch) in his drawing room with an anonymous peer who he only just met at a pub. hirst's overly talkative guest, calling himself a poet, long-windedly explains how he is a penetratingly perceptive man, until he finally introduces himself by the name "spooner". as the men are becoming more inebriated, hirst suddenly rises and throws his glass, while spooner suddenly taunts hirst about his masculinity and wife. hirst merel
1974_plays British_plays Plays_by_Harold_Pinter