# Harold Pinter, Magneto, and Professor X (also, Samuel Beckett, Gandalf, and Capt. Picard) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 20, 2013, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harold-pinter-magneto-and-professor-x-also-samuel-beckett-gandalf-and-capt-picard/669315 "2013-09-20T15:20:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harold-pinter-magneto-and-professor-x-also-samuel-beckett-gandalf-and-capt-picard/669315/1 "2013-09-20T15:20:20Z")
Well, I just bought tickets to see [Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart in Harold Pinter’s _No Man’s Land_ on Broadway.](http://www.twoplaysinrep.com/) It was hard for me to resist _Rocky- The Musical!_, but a choice had to be made. I’m very excited about this. I was really into Pinter in college (as were all theatre students), but I mostly knew his work from _reading_ his plays. Other than scene work done in class by other students, the only actual full performance I ever saw was a production of _The Dumb Waiter_ once. To actually see a professional Broadway production would be a great experience anyway, but with this cast- wow! McKellen and Stewart are also performing _Waiting for Godot_ The two productions are running _concurrent_! _Godot_ tickets didn’t fit with my schedule, so I went with _No Man’s Land_- it’s not a play that I am familiar with, but I fully expect that I’ll cherish the experience. I’m not going until the end of December, so anyone who wants an update will have to wait. Oh boy! ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harold-pinter-magneto-and-professor-x-also-samuel-beckett-gandalf-and-capt-picard/669315/2 "2013-09-20T15:37:03Z")
If there are any women in the cast, I wonder if [their tops will fall off.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg_cwI1Xj4M) ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harold-pinter-magneto-and-professor-x-also-samuel-beckett-gandalf-and-capt-picard/669315/3 "2013-09-20T15:39:05Z")
My girlfriend and I are going to see the Waiting for Godot production. I’m pretty psyched. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harold-pinter-magneto-and-professor-x-also-samuel-beckett-gandalf-and-capt-picard/669315/4 "2013-09-20T15:40:47Z")
I just got _Godot_ tickets yesterday. [The promotional campaign of McKellen and Stewart taking pictures all over NYC is pretty fun, too.](http://www.buzzfeed.com/ellievhall/patrick-stewart-and-ian-mckellens-friendship-is-better-than) ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harold-pinter-magneto-and-professor-x-also-samuel-beckett-gandalf-and-capt-picard/669315/5 "2013-09-20T15:43:49Z")
We saw _The Caretaker_ a couple of years ago with Kyle Maclachlan and Patrick Stewart. Absolutely deadly. I’d like to see the revival of _Betrayal_ with Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz, but it’s a short run and I don’t think we can get there. Bummer. Stewart is a powerful stage presence but Maclachlan’s key scene absolutely stole the show. [spoiler]When his character is sitting on the bed, slowly recounting his history and you find out he was in a mental institution getting shock therapy and other heavyweight abuse, the light irised down to his face so slowly you never noticed until it blinked out. There was dead silence in the theater for about four seconds, and then every single member of the audience made a soft exclamation. It was spooky.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harold-pinter-magneto-and-professor-x-also-samuel-beckett-gandalf-and-capt-picard/669315/6 "2013-09-20T15:51:29Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Stewart is a powerful stage presence . . . I saw him on Broadway once before. He performed Dickens’ _A Christmas Carol_ as a one man show. It was pretty awesome. This will be my first time seeing McKellen on stage. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harold-pinter-magneto-and-professor-x-also-samuel-beckett-gandalf-and-capt-picard/669315/7 "2013-09-20T15:57:07Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > Well, I just bought tickets to see [Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart in Harold Pinter’s _No Man’s Land_ on Broadway.](http://www.twoplaysinrep.com/) > It was hard for me to resist _Rocky- The Musical!_, but a choice had to be made I feel a twinge of sadness at realizing I’ll never see Patrick Stewart drink raw eggs as a mumbling thumb-breaker while Ian McKellen crisply delivers key lines. _“Look, it’s the name, man: THE EYE-TALIAN STALLION. The media will eat it up! Now who discovered America? An Italian, right? What would be better than to get it on with one of his descendants … nothing; I’ll drop him in three. ‘Apollo Creed Meets The Italian Stallion’. Sounds like a damn monster movie!”_ ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harold-pinter-magneto-and-professor-x-also-samuel-beckett-gandalf-and-capt-picard/669315/8 "2013-09-20T17:01:55Z")
I’m similarly disappointed that McKellan and Stewart almost certainly won’t be doing Godot dressed as Gandalf and Picard. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harold-pinter-magneto-and-professor-x-also-samuel-beckett-gandalf-and-capt-picard/669315/9 "2013-09-20T17:46:21Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I’m similarly disappointed that McKellan and Stewart almost certainly won’t be doing Godot dressed as Gandalf and Picard. …unless my online petition succeeds, that is. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harold-pinter-magneto-and-professor-x-also-samuel-beckett-gandalf-and-capt-picard/669315/10 "2013-09-20T17:47:01Z")
Patrick Stewart as Prospero in Shakespeare in the Park was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Well-worth the 8 hour wait on the NYC sidewalk for tickets. ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harold-pinter-magneto-and-professor-x-also-samuel-beckett-gandalf-and-capt-picard/669315/11 "2013-09-20T17:51:21Z")
whoa! Two proper stage actors with crafted stage material … enjoy! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harold-pinter-magneto-and-professor-x-also-samuel-beckett-gandalf-and-capt-picard/669315/12 "2013-09-20T17:57:30Z")
Wonderful! Godot is going to be the hot ticket, but _No Man’s Land_ is a great show (I have always been partial to Pinter.) I don’t think I am going to be able to get tickets so you will have to report back. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harold-pinter-magneto-and-professor-x-also-samuel-beckett-gandalf-and-capt-picard/669315/13 "2013-09-20T18:17:45Z")
It’s not a very long run, so I’m surprised all the tickets didn’t sell out in a couple of hours. Maybe I’ll get tickets to No Man’s Land, too. This is how spoiled you can get living in NYC: I’ve seen Stewart in The Ride Down Mt. Morgan, The Caretaker, and Macbeth, and McKellen in Dance of Death. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harold-pinter-magneto-and-professor-x-also-samuel-beckett-gandalf-and-capt-picard/669315/14 "2013-09-20T18:23:38Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > It’s not a very long run, so I’m surprised all the tickets didn’t sell out in a couple of hours. Maybe I’ll get tickets to No Man’s Land, too. This is how spoiled you can get living in NYC: I’ve seen Stewart in The Ride Down Mt. Morgan, The Caretaker, and Macbeth, and McKellen in Dance of Death. I am deeply in love with _The Caretaker_ and would have loved to have seen Stewart in it. Pinter was clearly writing for Stewart, he just didn’t know it at the time. McKellen is no slouch either and is going to excellent as well. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2013, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harold-pinter-magneto-and-professor-x-also-samuel-beckett-gandalf-and-capt-picard/669315/15 "2013-09-21T13:21:25Z")
A few years back, I saw Stewart on Broadway in David Mamet’s _ **A Life in the Theater** _, with T.R. Knight. He’s a much better comedian than I expected. I was so used to seeing Stewart playing serious authority figures, I wasn’t quite prepared to see him playing a very dim, slightly pompous, aging actor in a small repertory theater. He was very funny, and sometimes quite touching. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harold-pinter-magneto-and-professor-x-also-samuel-beckett-gandalf-and-capt-picard/669315/16 "2013-12-15T19:57:50Z")
We’ll be seeing _No Man’s Land_ in less than two weeks! Has anyone here been to see either of these shows yet? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harold-pinter-magneto-and-professor-x-also-samuel-beckett-gandalf-and-capt-picard/669315/17 "2013-12-15T21:08:13Z")
I saw them in Berkeley this fall, from front row center seats. Absolutely fantastic performance, and I was glad to see Billy Crudup in something. As somebody asked above, no, there were no women in the cast. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harold-pinter-magneto-and-professor-x-also-samuel-beckett-gandalf-and-capt-picard/669315/18 "2013-12-15T21:22:17Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > A few years back, I saw Stewart on Broadway in David Mamet’s _ **A Life in the Theater** _, with T.R. Knight. He’s a much better comedian than I expected. > > I was so used to seeing Stewart playing serious authority figures, I wasn’t quite prepared to see him playing a very dim, slightly pompous, aging actor in a small repertory theater. He was very funny, and sometimes quite touching. I’m embarrassed to mention this is such a refined thread but Stewart is hilarious in his recurring voice role as [Avery Bullock](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S7r-K6lO6k) on _American Dad_. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harold-pinter-magneto-and-professor-x-also-samuel-beckett-gandalf-and-capt-picard/669315/19 "2013-12-16T00:31:04Z")
It’s an interesting production: they put a lot more emphasis on the banter and comedy than on the absurdist existential tragedy. McKellen says something in the program about not wanting to over-intellectualize the show. So it’s a funnier Waiting for Godot than you might expect. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harold-pinter-magneto-and-professor-x-also-samuel-beckett-gandalf-and-capt-picard/669315/20 "2013-12-16T00:49:36Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > So it’s a funnier Waiting for Godot than you might expect. Cool. I would have loved to have gotten tickets for _Godot_, but it doesn’t work with our schedule. I am not familiar with _No Man’s Land_ but I am familiar with other Pinter works- and with _this cast_, I knew there was no way I’d let the opportunity pass me by. I have no doubt it’s the kind of situation where the cast carries a certain energy from one play to the next. There’s no way that _one of them_ is great but the other isn’t. Can’t wait! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harold-pinter-magneto-and-professor-x-also-samuel-beckett-gandalf-and-capt-picard/669315.md?page=2)