Tributes pour in for Pinter

Multi-award winning playwright lauded by dignitaries of theatrical and political worlds

Peter Walker, David Smith and Haroon Siddique writing in guardian.co.uk,

Tributes are being paid to the playwright Harold Pinter today from both the theatrical and political worlds after his death from cancer, aged 78.

This evening, the London stage will see the first performance of one of the Nobel Prize-winning writer's works since his death, as a cast including Sir Michael Gambon, David Walliams and David Bradley perform No Man's Land at the Duke of York's theatre.
"I'm very honoured to have known him personally and professionally over the past 10 years. It's a huge loss," Bradley said.

"People from Germany, Israel and China would come backstage saying Harold Pinter was so important to them. He wrote about oppression and people taking terrible advantage and oppressing each other on a personal level.
"Although he did not write the plays in an overtly political way they stood the test of time because they have universal themes. They meant so much to people in different ways."

Gambon, a veteran performer of Pinter's plays, led tributes to him yesterday, describing him as "our God".
He told guardian.co.uk: "I had the privilege to know Harold well and was in many of his plays. I created a couple of parts for him in first productions. He was our God, Harold Pinter, for actors. He was the man who wrote the plays you wanted to be in."

Read the full report at The Guardian online.