Holly Twyford, one of Washington’s most honored and creative actors, follows her romp in Ken Ludwig’s “Fox on the Fairway” and her dramatic turn in Horton Foote’s tale of a Civil War aftermath, “The Carpetbagger’s Children,” as Anna in Harold Pinter’s “Old Times.” Pinter, a British Nobel laureate, wrote plays for stage, screen, radio and television, poetry, essays, short fiction and one novel. All are thoughtful, often amusing and ironic and frequently enigmatic. His dramas, especially those penned during his “Memory” period of the 1970s, are built around characters with conflicts that may never be solved before the curtain falls. Indeed, audiences frequently leave the theater not quite certain what has transpired before them. “Old Times” is one of those riddled with mind games that beg analysis.
“Pinter isn’t done much in the United States except in colleges,” Twyford said. “Professors love to challenge drama students by asking them how they feel about a certain play and what they should do during pauses. Our director, Michael Kahn, has loved the play for a long time and when he called up and told me he wanted to get a crack at it, I was delighted. When we began rehearsals, he didn’t look at it as, ‘This is Pinter, now go about it in a certain way.’ He’s trying to tell a story to draw people in.
| Onstage |
| ‘Old Times’ |
| Where: Shakespeare Theatre, Lansburgh Theatre |
| When: Through July 3 |
| Info: $37 to $89, with discounts for military, students, seniors and those under 35, at the Box Office, 450 Seventh St. NW, 202-547-1122, toll-free 877-487-8849 or shakespearetheater.org |
“Anna is different than anyone I ever played, but I got inside her the way I manage to understand any character. You have to let the audience come away with what they think is happening and reach their own conclusions. The beauty is that Pinter never explained the meaning of the play and allowed others to interpret it as they wish.”
In this and other plays, Pinter was obsessed not with what actually happens in life, but with memories of what people believe happened. The psychological twists arising from his rambling script, together with the small cast of three, unusual for a Shakespeare Theatre Company production, make this production warrant attention.
Twyford shares the stage with stage, film and television actress Tracy Middendorf as Kate and Steven Culp as Deeley. Culp is a veteran of film and television recognized for recurring roles as CIA agent Clayton Webb in “JAG” and Rex Van de Kamp in “Desperate Housewives.”
