Pinter's People is a compilation of revue sketches or short prose works by Harold Pinter

Harold Pinter

Harold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...

, which was performed for four weeks from 30 January 2007, at the Haymarket Theatre

Haymarket Theatre

The Theatre Royal Haymarket is a West End theatre in the Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use...

, in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, starring Bill Bailey

Bill Bailey

Bill Bailey is an English comedian, musician and actor. As well as his extensive stand-up work, Bailey is well known for his appearances on Black Books, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Have I Got News for You, and QI.Bailey was listed by The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy in...

, Geraldine McNulty

Geraldine McNulty

Geraldine McNulty is a British stage and television actress.She has played the character of Mrs Raven in My Hero, and had guest appearances in Neverwhere, Gimme Gimme Gimme, The Vicar of Dibley, The Smoking Room and The Catherine Tate Show...

, Sally Phillips

Sally Phillips

-Career:Sally Phillips was the only woman in the 1990 Oxford Revue THRASH which also starred Ed Smith. She did nine consecutive Edinburgh Festivals, appearing in shows such as Ra-Ra-Rasputin, Arthur Smith's version of Hamlet and Cluub Zarathustra with Simon Munnery, Stewart Lee, Richard Thomas,...

, and Kevin Eldon. The show was assembled by Bailey and directed by Sean Foley

Sean Foley

Sean Foley may refer to:*Seán Foley, Irish sportsman*Sean Foley , British comedian*Sean Foley , American film editor, whose credits include The Slumber Party Massacre...

.

It included:

• "Apart From That" (first performed 2006)
• "The Black and White" (1959)
• "Last to Go" (1959)
• "The New World Order" (1991)
• "Night
  Night (sketch)
  Night is a dramatic sketch by the English playwright Harold Pinter, presented as one of eight short dramatic works about marriage in the program Mixed Doubles: An Entertainment on Marriage at the Comedy Theatre, London, on April 9, 1969; directed by Alexander Doré, this production included Nigel...
  
  " (1969)
• "Precisely
  Precisely (sketch)
  Precisely is a dramatic sketch by the English playwright Harold Pinter.Pinter wrote "Precisely" for a theatrical evening arranged by the peace movement 18th December 1983. In the sketch, two men, Stephen and Roger, argue about exact number of a figure, whether 20 million or more...
  
  " (1983)
• "Press Conference" (2002)
• "Request Stop
  Request stop
  In public transport, a request stop or flag stop describes a stopping point at which trains or buses stop only on an as-need or request basis; that is, only if there are passengers to be picked up or dropped off. In this way, infrequently used stopping points can be served efficiently.Trains save...
  
  " (1959)
• "Special Offer" (1959)
• "Tess" (2000)
• "That's All" (1959)
• "That's Your Trouble" (1959)
• "Trouble in the Works" (1959)
• "Victoria Station
  Victoria Station (play)
  Victoria Station is a short play for two actors by the English playwright Harold Pinter.-Summary:Victoria Station consists of a radio dialogue between a minicab controller and a driver who is stopped by the side of "a dark park" in Crystal Palace, supposedly waiting further instructions. The...
  
  " (1982)

Critical response

The reviews were not good. Charles Spencer

Charles Spencer (journalist)

Charles Spencer is a British journalist. He has been the drama critic of The Daily Telegraph since 1991. In 2006, Compton Miller of The Independent wrote in a profile: "This convivial ex-alcoholic is best remembered for his description of Nicole Kidman's nude scene in The Blue Room as 'pure...

, in The Daily Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...

described the show as "one of the most punishingly unfunny evenings I have ever endured in a theatre." In The Guardian

The Guardian

The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

, Michael Billington

Michael Billington (critic)

Michael Keith Billington is a British author and arts critic. Drama critic of The Guardian since October 1971, he is "Britain's longest-serving theatre critic" and the author of biographical and critical studies relating to British theatre and the arts; most notably, he is the authorised...

 commented, "Pinter’s people have been turned into lurching grotesques and the result does a grave disservice both to the writer and comic acting." Benedict Nightingale

Benedict Nightingale

Benedict Nightingale is a British journalist and a regular theatre critic for The Times newspaper. He was born in 1939 and educated at Charterhouse and Magdalene College, Cambridge...

 in The Times

The Times

The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

wrote: "Last night I was sickened by some of the coarsest performances I have ever seen in a London playhouse", before going on to praise the second half of the show. The Observer

The Observer

The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...

was more favourable however, mentioning "the great pleasures of the evening" and praised the performers.

Pinter himself was quick to defend the cast and the show, saying "I'm all for it. I admire these people in Pinter's People. I really think they're a great bunch - they're so robust and energetic. I think they were terrific."