Celebration is a play

Play (theatre)

A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...

 by British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 playwright

Playwright

A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...

 Harold Pinter

Harold Pinter

Harold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...

. It was first presented as a double-bill with Pinter's first play The Room on Thursday 16 March 2000 at the Almeida Theatre

Almeida Theatre

The Almeida Theatre, opened in 1980, is a 325 seat studio theatre with an international reputation which takes its name from the street in which it is located, off Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre produces a diverse range of drama and holds an annual summer festival of...

 in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

.

Synopsis

The plot revolves around three couples dining in the most expensive restaurant in town (an allusion to The Ivy

The Ivy

The Ivy is a restaurant in West Street, near Covent Garden in London. It opened in 1917 and is popular with celebrities and theatre goers. In 2000, the restaurant was awarded the Moët & Chandon London Restaurant Award for excellence....

 restaurant in London). At one table are sat two brothers, Lambert and Matt, and two sisters, Prue and Julie. Lambert and Julie are married, as are Matt and Prue. They are celebrating Lambert and Julie's wedding anniversary

Wedding anniversary

-Official recognition:In the Commonwealth realms, one can receive a message from the monarch for 60th, 65th, and 70th wedding anniversaries, and any wedding anniversary after that...

. Seated at another table are Russell and Suki, who later join the other party of diners. The diners' conversations are intersected by the existential

Existentialism

Existentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...

 ponderings of Richard, the restaurateur (a character based on the London restaurateur Jeremy King), Sonia the maitresse d', and an unnamed Waiter

Waiter

Waiting staff, wait staff, or waitstaff are those who work at a restaurant or a bar attending customers — supplying them with food and drink as requested. Traditionally, a male waiting tables is called a "waiter" and a female a "waitress" with the gender-neutral version being a "server"...

. The dialogue begins as an apparently ordinary celebratory meal for the diners developing into a complex weaving of more sinister themes, including undercurrents of love/hate relationships and incest. The play ends with a mysterious (and 'incomplete') speech from the waiter, which hints at a possible way to escape the pain of everyday life.

Original cast

Lambert	Keith Allen
Matt	Andy de la Tour Andy de la Tour Andy de la Tour is an English actor and screenwriter. He has appeared in such films as Plenty, Notting Hill and the Roman Polanski version of Oliver Twist. He has also written or appeared in such television series as Boon, The Young Ones, Bottom, Peak Practice and Kavanagh QC...
Prue	Lindsay Duncan Lindsay Duncan Lindsay Vere Duncan, CBE is a Scottish stage, television and film actress. On stage she won two Olivier Awards and a Tony Award for her performance in Les Liaisons dangereuses and Private Lives , and she starred in several plays by Harold Pinter. Her most famous roles on television include:...
Julie	Susan Wooldridge Susan Wooldridge Susan Wooldridge , is the daughter of British actress Margaretta Scott and composer John Wooldridge. She is also the sister of Hugh Wooldridge.She was born in London, England, and educated at convent schools....
Russell	Steven Pacey Steven Pacey Steven Pacey is an English actor, best known for his role as Del Tarrant in the third and fourth seasons of the sci-fi series Blake's 7....
Suki	Lia Williams
Richard	Thomas Wheatley
Sonia	Indira Varma Indira Varma Indira Varma is an English actress. Her first major role was in Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love. She has gone on to appear in the television series Rome and Human Target.-Early life and background:...
Waiter	Danny Dyer Danny Dyer Danny Dyer is an English actor, media personality, and chairman of Greenwich Borough, a non-League football team.-Biography:Daniel John Dyer was born in Custom House, an area of East London, to Antony and Christine Dyer...
Waitress 1	Nina Raine Nina Raine Nina Raine is an English theatre director and playwright, and the only daughter of the poet Craig Raine.She graduated from Christ Church, Oxford in 1998 with a First in English Literature.-Career:...
Waitress 2	Katherine Tozer

Television adaptation

In 2006, director

Television director

A television director directs the activities involved in making a television program and is part of a television crew.-Duties:The duties of a television director vary depending on whether the production is live or recorded to video tape or video server .In both types of productions, the...

 John Crowley

John Crowley (director)

John Crowley is an Irish television, theatre and film director. He is perhaps best known for his feature film debut Intermission .-Education:Crowley earned a B.A. in philosophy from University College Cork.-Career:...

 adapted Celebration for More4

More4

More4 is a digital television channel, run by British broadcaster Channel 4, that launched on 10 October 2005. It is carried on Freeview, on satellite broadcasters Freesat and Sky, UK IPTV broadcaster TalkTalk TV and on UK cable network Virgin Media and in the Republic of Ireland cable networks...

. It was first shown on More4 on Monday 26 February 2007.

Original television cast

Lambert	Michael Gambon Michael Gambon Sir Michael John Gambon, CBE is an Irish actor who has worked in theatre, television and film. A highly respected theatre actor, Gambon is recognised for his roles as Philip Marlowe in the BBC television serial The Singing Detective, as Jules Maigret in the 1990s ITV serial Maigret, and as...
Matt	James Bolam James Bolam James Christopher Bolam, MBE is a British actor, best known for his roles as Jack Ford in When the Boat Comes In, Trevor Chaplin in The Beiderbecke Trilogy, Terry Collier in The Likely Lads and its sequel Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?, Roy Figgis in Only When I Laugh, Dr Arthur Gilder in...
Prue	Julia McKenzie Julia McKenzie Julia McKenzie is an English actress, singer, and theatre director. She is best-known for her performance in Fresh Fields, but to current television audiences, she is best known for her role as Miss Marple in Agatha Christie's Marple...
Julie	Penelope Wilton Penelope Wilton Penelope Alice Wilton, OBE is an English actress.-Life and career:Penelope Alice Wilton was born in Scarborough, North Riding of Yorkshire, to a former actress mother and a businessman father. She is a niece of actors Bill Travers and Linden Travers and a cousin of the actor Richard Morant...
Russell	Colin Firth Colin Firth SirColin Andrew Firth, CBE is a British film, television, and theatre actor. Firth gained wide public attention in the 1990s for his portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the 1995 television adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice...
Suki	Janie Dee Janie Dee Janie Dee is an English actress and singer.She is married to the actor Rupert Wickham.-Theatre:Dee is presently part of the Globe Theatre 2011 season playing The Countess of Roussillion in Shakespeare's "All's Well that Ends Well" and in October she goes to Nottingham Playhouse to play Amanda in ...
Richard	James Fox James Fox James Fox, OBE is an English actor.-Early life:James Fox was born in London, England to theatrical agent Robin Fox and actress Angela Worthington. He is the brother of actor Edward Fox and film producer Robert Fox. The actress Emilia Fox is his niece and the actor Laurence Fox is his son. His...
The Waitress (Sonia)	Sophie Okonedo Sophie Okonedo Sophie Okonedo, OBE is a British actress, who has starred both in successful British and American productions. In 1991, she made her acting debut in the British critically acclaimed coming-of-age drama, Young Soul Rebels...
Waiter	Stephen Rea Stephen Rea Stephen Rea is an Irish film and stage actor. Rea has appeared in high profile films such as V for Vendetta, Michael Collins, Interview with the Vampire and Breakfast on Pluto...