Short season of Pinter Shorts at The Meteor in Hamilton

Missy Mooney, Christina Wilson, Phil Dalziel, Richard Homan, Jack Knowles in Party Time. Photo / Supplied

Carving in Ice Theatre Company is bringing a selection of short works by Harold Pinter to The Meteor stage in Hamilton from May 2 to 7.

Audiences are invited to see seven Pinter plays with 15 actors all in under two hours. The plays are That's All, Umbrellas, Precisely, Mountain Language, Night, That's Your Trouble, and Party Time.

"Some of these are two-hander dramatic sketches (That's Your Trouble, Precisely), and a couple are short plays with larger casts (Party Time, Mountain Language)" says director and Carving in Ice founder Gaye Poole.

"In this collection you'll get a taste of the Pinter dramatic sketch, a Pinter memory play and plays of the more political Pinter."

With a cast of 15, audiences can expect to see some familiar faces, especially if they've been to a Carving in Ice Theatre show before.

"All 15 of us have worked with Carving in Ice before," says cast member David Simes.

Joining Simes in Pinter Shorts are Carving in Ice alumni Julianne Boyle, Kendra Boyle, Phil Dalziel, Mandy Faulkner, Liam Hinton, Richard Homan, Jack Knowles, Clive Lamdin, David Lumsden, Conor Maxwell, Missy Mooney, James Smith, Tycho Smith, and Christina Wilson.

All 15 cast members will take the stage portraying a variety of roles in some of the seven plays being presented.

David Simes, Conor Maxwell in Umbrellas. Photo / Supplied

"Pinter's plays intrigue actors because they feature colloquial repetitive language and illogical syntax of ordinary speech; yet at the same time they are as carefully balanced as musical scores.

His characters' motives are often obscure and their backgrounds indefinite which can also be fascinating for actors and audiences alike," Poole says.

Audiences can expect a "truly 'Pinteresque' performance"; 'Pinteresque' is an actual term in The Oxford English dictionary referring to unnerving and unpredictable environments, a trademark of all Harold Pinter plays.

Tickets and more information can be found at www.themeteor.co.nz
Carving in Ice Theatre, Pinter Shorts May 2nd, 3rd, 4th 7.30 pm. May 5th, 7th May 6.pm Tickets: $12/$18/$22.