The Homecoming Lesson Plan

The Pinter Pause

Kind of Activity:

Artistic Response

Objective:

Students will be able to explore a distinctive feature of Pinter’s plays (the pauses) and practice directing ambiguous moments in the play

Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.2

Structure:

Pinter is known for his scripted pauses and the many ellipses he writes into the play’s text. Show the following video (an interview with the actors who play Lenny and Max in the Broadway revival) to the class as an introduction to this concept: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLpWHq21-N4 (4’40” to 6’44”).

Then, divide the class randomly into pairs. Explain that in this activity they will be deciding what happens...