Stumped
Written by Shomit Dutta
Directed by Guy Unsworth
About the Show
A game of cricket. Two of the greatest playwrights. And maybe even time for some tea.
Before Samuel Beckett became the playwright universally known for Waiting for Godot, he was a cricketer. He is still the only Nobel prize-winner to feature in the pages of Wisden as a first-class player. His friend and fellow Nobel prize-winner, Harold Pinter, whose best known works include The Birthday Party and Betrayal, described cricket as ‘the greatest thing that God created on earth’.
This brilliantly witty new play stars Stephen Tompkinson as Samuel Beckett (Brassed Off, Drop the Dead Donkey, DCI Banks, Wild at Heart) and Andrew Lancel (The Bill, Coronation Street) as Harold Pinter. Stumped gives a wonderful insight into what the friendship between these two great men may have looked like. As well as being a beautiful tribute to their writing, the theatre of the absurd, and of course their love for the game of cricket.
Shomit Dutta is a writer, translator and teacher of Latin and Greek who also reviews books on cricket and the classics. He has been a member of Harold Pinter’s cricket team Gaieties CC for over twenty years and was captain during Pinter’s final years.
Guy Unsworth directs. His credits include Bring It On (Southbank Centre); My Fair Lady (Grange Festival Opera & The Liceu, Barcelona) Being Mr Wickham (Queen Mary 2, UK tour, New York run, Original Theatre); Julius Caesar (Fort Canning Park, Singapore); Of Mice and Men (UK Tour); Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em (UK Tour); Hand To God (Singapore Repertory Theatre); The Food of Love (Cadogan Hall, Royal Festival Hall).
REVIEWS
“A real treat… see it if you can” The Spectator
“Perfect pitch for lovers of drama and cricket” The Guardian, Mark Lawson
“A delightful play” British Theatre Guide
ON TOUR 2023
Theatre Royal Bath
Tuesday 23rd – Saturday 27th May
Cambridge Arts Theatre
Monday 5th – Saturday 10th June
Hampstead Theatre, London
Friday 16th June – Saturday 22nd July
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