num_pages: 120
description: In The Birthday Party, a musician who escapes to a dilapidated boarding house, where he falls victim to the shadowy, ritualized violence of two men who have followed him from his sinister past.In The Room, a derelict boarding house again becomes the scene of a visitation from the past when a blind man suddenly arrives to deliver a mysterious message. Both plays are invested with the elements that make Pinter's work unique: the disturbing familiarity of the dialogue, the subtle characterization, and the abrupt mood and power shifts among the characters, which can be by turns terrifying, moving, and wildly funny.
language: English
title: The Birthday Party & The Room
titlecomplete: The Birthday Party & The Room
genres: 20th Century, Theatre, Drama, Plays, Literature, Classics, British Literature, Adult, Fiction
ratings_count: 1100
publisher: Grove Press