The European Theatre Prize….

And so, finally, to the presentation of the Europe Theatre Prize to Harold Pinter last night at Turin’s Teatro Carignano, in a ceremony of such mind-bending tedium that it makes the Oliviers seem like they have the excitement of an Olympic ski-jump like Turin recently witnessed. Lined up onstage, at a long table like they were recreating The Last Supper, an assortment of dignitaries and critics held forth on Pinter. At least Britain’s Ian Herbert – former publisher of Theatre Record and president of the International Association of Theatre Critics – had the sense to remember that brevity is the soul of wit, and got high praise afterwards for keeping it short. And of course, Michael Billington’s final speech before Pinter was brought onto the stage was also a model of craft and concision.

Pinter himself spoke but briefly, and once again used the occasion to pursue his current preoccupation with trying to get Europe to disassociate itself from America’s all-pervasive might and influence. “I would like Europe to follow the example of Latin America, resisting American force both military and economic. It’s a serious responsibility for something that calls itself Europe to stand up against the extraordinary power being used by the US that will probably destroy us otherwise.”

But if the some of the prior speeches went on (and on), the stage was then cleared for just four seats, to be occupied by Jeremy Irons, Penelope Wilton, Michael Gambon and Charles Dance – part of the team who celebrated Pinter’s 75th birthday in Dublin last October – to perform extracts from his plays and poetry. And after the boredom of what had preceded it, here we were finally released into the wit, wisdom and spare Pinter, where every word and gesture counts with utter precision and reverberates with infinite meaning.