Of Things Untold

Years after they were first staged,his plays still manage to mystify. The difference is that now we are not academically bothered about them. Now we can see them for what they are. Too many elliptical plays and films in the decades between have seen to that,but Harold Pinter will continue to be an artiste who defies complete definition. The four films based on his plays that are being staged at Seagull Arts and Media Resource Centre later next week probably attest that very fact. While Birthday Party is an usettling comedy about guilt and its manifestations,The Caretaker is a modern parable of derisive scorn and bitter sorrow. The Accident is a study of the minor anxieties of a man who has everything to make him happy,and yet he isn’t. Meanwhile,The Servant is a role-reversal drama where the power equation between a servant and his master is very cunningly explored.

However,two common factor binds them together — the hint of subtextual menace and the suggestion of the dislocation of familiar things,which can be both terrifying and funny.

The four films will be screened at Seagull Arts and Media Resource Centre,6.30 pm onwards from June 5 to June 8. For details contact 2455694243.