Following the evening performance of Harold Pinter's 40th Anniversary revival of The Homecoming on February 5, playwright Eric Bogosian (Talk Radio) launched a series of post-show talkback discussions at the Cort Theatre. Show time is 7 PM.
"Undoubtedly Pinter's most sexually provocative work, The Homecoming is an edgy and compelling tale of lust, betrayal and seduction, telling the story of a dysfunctional family that welcomes the homecoming of its estranged brother and competes for the attention of his dangerously alluring wife," explain press notes.
The Homecoming stars Golden Globe Award-winner Ian McShane, two-time Tony-nominee Raul Esparza, Tony-nominee Eve Best, Oscar-nominee Michael McKean, Gareth Saxe and James Frain. Tony Award-winner Daniel Sullivan directs. Additional talkback sessions will be announced shortly.
After 2-hours of a gripping and wild-ride, audience members (itching for more Pinter and an opportunity to crack-open the mysteries of the play) stayed in their seats… Just five short minutes later stars Ian McShane, Michael McKean, Gareth Saxe and James Frain joined Eric Bogosian and Roy Harris (stage manager) on-stage for an engaging post-show discussion.
Each post-show discussion, moderated by Bogosian, feature some discussion amongst the actors (as we eaves-drop in) and includes a nice one-on-one question/answer session with the audience. Frain, who plays the intellectual brother, Teddy, was humored: "We never get to talk like this!"
Bogosian – "a huge Pinter fan" – is currently starring in NBC's "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" and directed a production of Pinter's The Caretaker during his undergraduate studies at the University of Chicago in 1973.
Having seen the production twice, Bogosian was impressed with how richly each character has been defined on-stage and yet, how fresh the actors keep their relationships and each Pinter-esque nuisance brings new surprises to the story.
"You've got your own secret worlds for these guys, that you only want to keep to yourselves?" asked Bogosian to the stars, "For an audience to know what's happening only as it's happening for the first time is a whole different experience than to know what's going to happen having seen it before!"
Ian McShane underscored how grateful he is for the audience – "they react so differently each night." Frain laughed because he rates how great an audience is by how many times he hears someone utter "Jeezus!" from inside the house.
