The Homecoming

Clashes of class, culture, family, and sex; the tension of what is said and left unspoken- Pinter’s celebrated play continues to sear with Torn Space’s cutting-edge production.

November 10-December 9, 2023

More than perhaps any playwright, Harold Pinter articulates the rhythm of silence and ambiguity, highlighted by a precise control of language. In Pinter’s world, characters control language because it allows them to control and to design their reality.

This play is about control, and we viewed the production through the following framework:

I want to love. I want to receive love.
I cannot love. I cannot receive love because I am damaged.
In the absence of love, I need control.
When control is lost, terror arrives.

Characters in The Homecoming attempt to wield control in many ways to include control over langue, identity, the body, and memories. The latter puts The Homecoming on unstable ground where characters use past stories to construct new realities that weaponize memories to produce disorientation.

The Homecoming takes place in London. We decided to view London as a state of being rather than a geographical location. London is a space where these characters have found themselves; it is a space where the dynamics of identity, language, and power play out in front of a backdrop of shifting truths and constructed and then re-constructed realities. How does an individual maintain control and take control within a destroyed landscape?

When directing previous Pinter works, we gave special care to having the American-born actor take on the British accent to best highlight the language. In 2017 this did not seem important to us and when directing The Collection we changed our approach and we have applied this approach to The Homecoming. We wanted actors to use their own strength of language and apply it to Pinter’s words. Each character is using language as a tool to manipulate; shifting to brutishness, authenticity, transactional declarations, ambiguity, storytelling, and intimidation to assert dominance and to construct their own narrative.

Dan Shanahan and Melissa Meola
Directors, The Homecoming

Performed by
Max – Jack Hunter*
Teddy – Talon Powell
Ruth – Tracie Lane*
Lenny – Russell Holt
Sam – Stan Klimecko*
Joey – Kalub Thompson

*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and
Stage Managers, appearing under a special agreement with Actors’ Equity
Association.

Production and Design Staff

Directors – Dan Shanahan, Melissa Meola
Scenography – Kristina Siegel
Lighting Design – Eclectric Oil and Light
Sound Design – Justin Rowland
Costume Design – Jessica Wegrzyn
Production Manager – Carly Weiser
Technical Director – Daniel Toner
Audio Engineer – Dan Neveu
Fight Choreographer – Steve Vaughn
Stage Manager / Fight Captain – Sage Becker
Carpenter – Sean Kulak
Box Office/House Manager – Jennifer Carter-Tillapaugh