Pinter, That’s All

Starting Point

• What kinds of conversations do most people have most of the time? What about you? Think about the conversations you have had today or yesterday. What did you talk about?

– Discuss these questions with your neighbour.

What kinds of conversations did you have?

–Getting information–Discussions–Arguments–Deep interpersonal talks about

personal topics (feelings, problems, dreams etc.)–Small talk–Flirting?

Which factors determine the kind of conversation?

• Place• Time• Mood• The other person• The objective?

How much of your time is spent in meaningful conversations every day?

• How many meaningful conversations do you have per day?

• Would class time be considered meaningful conversation?

• When is a conversation meaningful?

Pinter: ”That’s All”

• Read the text with a partner.– Who is talking and about what?– What are your first impressions and thoughts?

Listen to the text:

• While listening take special notice of:– Tone– Voice quality– Attitude of the speakers– The pauses– What is not said

• Did your impression of the text change when you listened to it?

Viewpoints

• What are these two women talking about?• Where do you think they are having this

conversation?• Do you think it is a straightforward

conversation, or are they really talking about something else? What could that be?

What makes this sketch Pinteresque?

• The things that are not said• The pauses• The seeming banality/trivialness of the the

conversation– What could they really be talking about?

Try these ”Creative Stunts”

• With a partner, perform the play. Think about these points and stage directions.– Who is in it?– How old are they?– What tone of voice are they using?– What kinds of nonverbal body language are they

using?

• Note for the teacher: before showing the next slide, you could fill several slides with pictures from Internet of different people from different places. Then ask the students to perform the same play – with these new characters (two men (two tough guys or wimps) two young women (posh celebrities) man and woman, etc ,etc

Perform the play again but..

• Change the characters or their tone of voice – or both– Suggested characters – young women, two men,

man and woman– Suggested tones – accusing, apologetic, angry,

bored…

• How does the play change?

Now…

• Write your own play using your own conversation and Pinteresque style.

• Or• Imagine you were to film this play. What

would you include? Think about props, setting (inside/outside) characters (age, gender, clothing) lighting, music, camera angles, cross-clipping, film speed etc. – Write the screenplay– Make a video?