British Playwright Harold Pinter Awarded Nobel Prize in Literature

British playwright Harold Pinter was awarded the 2005 Nobel Prize in Literature. Permanent Secretary Horace Engdahl made the announcement at the Swedish Academy in Stockholm on October 13, 2005.

Pinter was born on October 10, 1930 in the London borough of Hackney. In 1948 he was accepted at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He published his first poems in 1950 and by 1951, he was accepted at the Central School of Speech and Drama. That same year, he won a place in Anew McMaster's famous Irish repertory company, renowned for its performances of Shakespeare. Pinter toured again between 1954 and 1957, using the stage name of David Baron. He made his playwriting debut in 1957 with The Room, presented in Bristol. Other early plays were The Birthday Party 1957, The Dumb Waiter 1957 and The Hothouse 1958. His first big breakthrough came in 1959 with The Caretaker. His subsequent plays include The Homecoming, Night School, The Collection, The Lover, The Homecoming, Landscape, Silence, Old Times, No Man's Land, Betrayal, Family Voices, A Kind of Alaska, One for the Road, Mountain Language, The New World Order, Party Time, Moonlight, Ashes to Ashes, Celebration and Remembrance of Things Past.

"[Pinter] who in his plays uncovers the precipice under everyday prattle and forces entry into oppression's closed rooms," Engdahl said announcing the prize.

The Atlantic Theater Company is presenting a Pinter double-bill of his first play The Room and his most recent play Celebration with performances beginning on November 16.