A Slight Ache - Wikipedia A Slight Ache From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search This article possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (October 2007) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "A Slight Ache" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (October 2007) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) First edition cover A Slight Ache is a tragicomic play written by Harold Pinter in 1958 and first published by Methuen in London in 1961. It concerns a married couple's dreams and desires, focusing mostly on the husband's fears of the unknown, of growing old, and of the "Other" as a threat to his self-identity. Contents 1 Characters 2 Themes 3 Productions 4 External links Characters[edit] Edward Flora a match seller Themes[edit] One of the main themes involves one's insecurity about threats to one's self-identity embodied in the character of the matchseller, of whom one of the other two characters, Edward, is utterly terrified. The theme of growing old is also prevalent: according to Edward, the Matchseller is old, practically stone deaf, and has a glass eye[citation needed], and the middle-aged Edward and Flora continually reminisce about their youth throughout the play. Threat of the "Other" and obsessive romantic jealousy are also recurrent. Productions[edit] A Slight Ache premièred as a radio broadcast in 1959, prior to its first stage production. On radio, because the Matchseller does not speak in the play, he appeared to its audience to be a figment of Edward's imagination. The play has subsequently enjoyed a number of successful stage productions. In 2008 it was performed at the National Theatre, starring Simon Russell Beale and Clare Higgins, and directed by Iqbal Khan. The character of the matchseller appeared on the stage, played by Jamie Beamish. External links[edit] A Slight Ache in the "Plays" section of haroldpinter.org. Accessed October 26, 2007. v t e Harold Pinter Plays The Room (1957) The Birthday Party (1957) The Dumb Waiter (1957) A Slight Ache (1958) The Hothouse (1958) The Caretaker (1959) A Night Out (1959) Night School (1960) The Dwarfs (1960) The Collection (1961) The Lover (1962) Tea Party (1964) The Homecoming (1964) The Basement (1966) Landscape (1967) Silence (1968) Old Times (1970) Monologue (1972) No Man's Land (1974) Betrayal (1978) Family Voices (1980) A Kind of Alaska (1982) Victoria Station (1982) One for the Road (1984) Mountain Language (1988) The New World Order (1991) Party Time (1991) Moonlight (1993) Ashes to Ashes (1996) Celebration (1999) Remembrance of Things Past (2000) Dramatic sketches The Black and White (1959) Trouble in the Works (1959) The Last to Go (1959) Request Stop (1959) Special Offer (1959) That's Your Trouble (1959) That's All (1959) Interview (1959) Applicant (1959) Dialogue for Three (1959) Umbrellas (1960) Night (1969) Precisely (1983) "God's District" (1997) Press Conference (2002) Apart From That (2006) Screenplays The Caretaker (1963) The Servant (1963) The Pumpkin Eater (1963) The Quiller Memorandum (1965) Accident (1966) The Birthday Party (1968) The Go-Between (1970) The Homecoming (1969) Langrishe, Go Down (1970) The Proust Screenplay (1972) The Last Tycoon (1974) The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981) Betrayal (1982, 1983) Victory (1982) Turtle Diary (1984) The Heat of the Day (1988) Reunion (1989) The Comfort of Strangers (1989) The Handmaid's Tale (1990) Party Time (1992) The Trial (1993) The Dreaming Child (1997) The Tragedy of King Lear (2000) Sleuth (2007) Related articles Works Bibliography Characteristics Honours and awards Relationship with academia The Harold Pinter Archive in the British Library Harold Pinter and politics Art, Truth and Politics Pinter's People Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A_Slight_Ache&oldid=921198110" Categories: Plays by Harold Pinter 1958 plays Methuen Publishing books Tragicomedy plays Hidden categories: Articles that may contain original research from October 2007 All articles that may contain original research Articles needing additional references from October 2007 All articles needing additional references All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from October 2007 Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version Languages فارسی Français Polski Edit links This page was last edited on 14 October 2019, at 13:45 (UTC). 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