Review · The Independent
Before the Almeida reading
Lister speaks to Harold Pinter and Anna Friel before the first Almeida reading of Look Europe!, connecting performance with responsibility towards prisoners of conscience.
- Credited to
- David Lister
- Publication
- The Independent
- Source date
- 3 October 1997 · preview of 5 October reading
- Published language
- English
- This page
- English source guide
Works discussed
Original English editorial guide to the identified source. Critical judgments and reported recollections remain attributed; the complete original stays with its publisher.
Preparing to speak another person’s danger
David Lister’s Look, Justice! previews the Almeida reading directed by Gari Jones, with Harold Pinter, Anna Friel and Roger Lloyd Pack. He explains how Rabihavi’s play emerged from the case of Faraj Sarkohi and how Pinter became involved through Index on Censorship. Its printed invitation gives 5 October at 7.30 pm. Source 1
Lister asks the performers about truth and responsibility when the people behind a dramatic situation remain in danger. Friel discusses approaching her first stage appearance; Pinter connects the play’s concern with imprisonment to circumstances beyond Iran. These are their views reported before the event, not an after-the-performance review. Source 1
The contemporary 1997 preview provides a dated context for the official Almeida record. A later personal diary’s heading places the encounter in 2007; that conflicting heading is not used to invent another Almeida production. Source 1
Ambiguity as a responsibility
Lister explains why Friel’s role leaves an official allegation of an affair unresolved. The woman represented by the character was still imprisoned, and he links the decision to concern that a more definite portrayal could put her in further danger. The ambiguity is therefore part of the production’s responsibility towards a living person; the preview does not establish that the alleged relationship occurred. Source 1
Sources & credits
- The Independent · Before the Almeida reading
Contemporary Independent preview, David Lister, 3 October 1997. The invitation is for 5 October 1997 at 7.30 pm. Performer comments remain attributed; the later Ian Louis Harris diary’s 2007 heading is a separate unresolved label.