The Homecoming

A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

The Homecoming

Full-Length Play, Drama  /  1w, 5m

Winner! Critics' Award for Best Play of the Year.

"Bizarre, ominous and taunting...A steadily absorbing, tantalizing and disturbing theatrical adventure. Enthralling." - New York Post

Image: 2015 West End Production (Marc Brenner)

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    1w, 5m
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult
Accolades
Accolades
  • WINNER! 1967 Tony Award for Best Play
    WINNER! Critics' Award for Best Play of the Year

Details

Summary
In an old and slightly seedy house in North London there lives a family of men: Max, the aging, crude patriarch, his ineffectual brother Sam and two of Max's three sons, both unmarried- Lenny, a small-time pimp and Joey, who dreams of success as a boxer. Into this sinister abode comes the eldest son Teddy, now a successful professor of philosophy in America. After six years abroad, Teddy brings his wife Ruth, to meet the family for the first time. In the style that became a trademark, Pinter creates mounting tension, with insidiously bizarre accusations and proposals by the men to Ruth, The Homecoming gives way to an ominous game of cat and mice.
History

The Homecoming premiered at the Royal Shakespeare Company in June of 1965 under the direction of Peter Hall. It transferred to The Music Box Theatre on Broadway in 1967.

MAX - a man of seventy.
LENNY - a man in his early thirties, Max's son.
SAM - a man of sixty-three, Max's brother.
JOEY - a man in his middle twenties, Max's son.
TEDDY - a man in his middle thirties, Max's son.
RUTH - a woman in her early thirties, Teddy's wife.
  • Setting Summer. An old house in North London.
  • Cautions
    • Mild Adult Themes

Media

REVIEWS

"Bizarre, ominous and taunting...A steadily absorbing, tantalizing and disturbing theatrical adventure. Enthralling." - New York Post

RELATED ARTICLES ON BREAKING CHARACTER 

True and False: Harold Pinter’s HOMECOMING in a Post-Factual World
by Ben Coleman 
January 26, 2017

Photos

  • The Homecoming

    Image: 2015 West End Production (Marc Brenner)

  • The Homecoming

    Image: 2011 Royal Shakespeare Company Production (Tristram Kenton)

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: $130 per performance

Scripts

Available Formats:

Add-Ons

Take a look below at how you can enhance your show!

Authors

Harold Pinter

Harold Pinter (1930-2008) was born in London on October 10, 1930. He lived with Antonia Fraser from 1975 until his death on Christmas Eve 2008. (They were married in 1980).

After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and the Central School of Speech and Drama, he worke ...

View full profile

Community

Now Playing

Community Experiences