Plays. Volume 1, The Birthday Party ; The Room ; The Dumb Waiter ; A Slight Ache ; The Hothouse ; A Night Out ; The Black and White ; The Examination

This volume contains Harold Pinter's first six plays, including The Birthday Party. The Birthday Party : Stanley Webber is visited in his boarding house by two strangers, Goldberg and McCann. An innocent-seeming birthday party for Stanley turns into a nightmare. The Room and The Dumb Waiter : In these two early one-act plays, Harold Pinter reveals himself as already in full control of his unique ability to make dramatic poetry of the banalities of everyday speech and the precision with which it defines character.
The Hothouse : The Hothouse was first produced in 1980, though Harold Pinter wrote the play in 1958, just before commencing work on The Caretaker. In this compelling study of bureaucratic power, we can see the full emergence of a great and original dramatic talent.