Synopsis: Stanley Webber is the only lodger in Meg and Petey Boles's seaside boarding house. One morning, while Meg and Stanley are bantering over breakfast, she mentions that two visitors are coming to stay for the night. Stanley immediately grows apprehensive, sensing imminent danger. His fears are confirmed when Goldberg and his partner McCann arrive. Meg announces that it's Stanley's birthday, and even though Stanley insists it is not, Goldberg demands a celebration. After a few glasses of whiskey and a game of blindman's bluff, Stanley's birthday party turns into a nightmare. Goldberg and McCann drag Stanley off to an upstairs room, and by morning they've rendered him a mute.

Cast:
Wendy Makkena .... Lulu
Bill Moor .... Petey
Peter Riegert .... Goldberg
Richard Riehle .... McCann
Jean Stapleton .... Meg
David Strathairn .... Stanley Webber

Notes:
• The Birthday Party and Mountain Language (both Pinter plays) were shown back-to-back nightly, and David juggled having contrasting parts in both shows. In this play he portrayed a victim, whereas in Mountain Language he portrayed a brutal officer.
• David has appeared in three different productions of The Birthday Party. He also later appeared in the U.S. premiere production of Pinter's Ashes to Ashes.
• Co-star Jean Stapleton won an Obie Award for her performance in The Birthday Party.

Critical Praise & Commentary:
(Carley Perloff On David:)
• "I chose actors for this production who had power and musicality, actors who would honor the precise cadences of the language and fill the silence and stillness with rich humanity... We used the same company of actors for both The Birthday Party and Mountain Language, and deliberately cast each actor in radically contrasting roles, so that the audience was privy to startling transformations as the victimized Stanley (David Strathairn) became the brutalizing Officer, the wide-eyed Lulu (Wendy Makkena) became the tough and compassionate Young Woman, and the aggressive Goldberg (Peter Reigert) became the tortured Prisoner. Perhaps the greatest contrast was for Jean Stapleton, who journeyed from the irrepressible and loquacious Meg to the silent, wide-eyed Elderly Women, terrified but determined to help her desperate son in any way she possibly could. For the entire cast, the experience was an extraordinary theatrical work-out." -Carey Perloff, director

Related Links:
HaroldPinter.org - The Birthday Party and Mountain Language (off site)
Crimes of War Magazine - Essay on The Birthday Party and Mountain Language by director Carey Perloff (off site)