Drawing by Maria Johnson Harold Pinter is generally regarded as the foremost representative of British drama in the second half of the twentieth century. That he occupies a position as a modern classic is illustrated by his name entering the language as an adjective used to describe a particular atmosphere and environment in drama: Pinteresque. Pinter restored theater to its basic elements: an enclosed space and unpredictable dialogue, where people are at the mercy of one another and pretense crumbles. With a minimum of plot, drama emerges from the power struggle and hide-and-seek of interlocution. Pinter's drama was first perceived as a variation of absurd theater but has later more aptly been characterized as comedy of menace, a genre in which the writer allows us to eavesdrop on the play of domination and submission hidden in the most mundane of conversations. In a typical Pinter play, we meet people defending themselves against intrusion or their own impulses by entrenching themselves in a reduced and controlled existence. Another principal theme is the volatility and elusiveness of the past. Harold Pinter was born on October 10, 1930, in the London borough of Hackney, son of a Jewish dressmaker. After being evacuated from London during World War n, he attended Hackney Grammar School, where he played Macbeth and Romeo in productions directed by Joseph Brearley. Deciding to choose a career in acting, in 1948 he was accepted at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and in 1951 enrolled at the Central School of Speech and Drama. That same year, he won a place in Anew McMaster's famous Irish repertory company, renowned for its performances of Shakespeare. Pinter toured again between 1954 and 1957, using the stage name of David Baron. After publishing his first poems in 1950, Pinter made his playwriting debut in 1957 with The Room, presented in Bristol. Other early plays were The Birthday Party (1957), at first a fiasco of legendary dimensions but later one of his most performed plays, and The Dumb Waiter (1957). His conclusive breakthrough came with The Caretaker (1959), followed by The Homecoming (1964) and other plays. Many critics have divided Pinter's drama into an initial period of psychological realism; a second, more lyrical phase featuring such plays as Landscape (1967) and Silence (1968); and finally a third, political phase in One for the Road (1984), Mountain Language (1988), The New World Order (1991), and other plays. But this division into periods seems oversimplified and ignores some of his strongest writing, such as No Man's Land (1974) and Ashes to Ashes (1996). In fact, the continuity in his work is remarkable, and his political themes can be seen as a development of the early Pinter's analyzing of threat and injustice. Since 1973, Pinter has won recognition as a defender of human rights alongside his writing, often taking stands seen as controversial. Pinter has also written radio plays and screenplays for film and television. Among his best-known screenplays are those for The Servant (1963), The Accident (1967), The Go-between (1971) and The Trench Lieutenant's Woman (1981, based on the John Fowles novel). Pinter has also made a pioneering contribution as a director. [Courtesy of the Swedish Academy]