Pinter in the Theatre
edited by Ian Smith
Nick Hern Books £14.99, pp234

Skilfully avoiding the impression of a group hug, a present danger when theatre people gather to heap praise on a luminary (especially in his 75th birthday year), this collection of essays, reviews and letters builds a measured and sober picture of Harold Pinter as, primarily, a theatre practitioner.

Ian Smith, a longtime friend and fellow cricket enthusiast, uses his detailed introduction to analyse the influences of Pinter's formative years on the development of his work - his Jewish immigrant background, his love of literature quickened at Hackney Downs grammar school, his conscientious objecting - and places his distinct contribution to British theatre in the context of literary and artistic movements of the 1960s.

A handful of interviews spanning four decades offers a fascinating insight into Pinter's own thoughts on his work, from the relatively poor reception of The Birthday Party in 1959 to the climate change that allowed The Caretaker to succeed only two years later and on to the politics of One for the Road in 1996.

Most revealing, though, is the final section in which actors and directors including Sam Mendes, Roger Lloyd Pack and Peter Hall, talk with respectful candour about their experiences of getting their hands dirty with Pinter on the shopfloor. A timely anthology that reminds us of Pinter's colossal impact on modern theatre.