LONDON Classic Theatre opens its national tour of Harold Pinter’s most beguiling and atmospheric play, No Man’s Land, at Oldham Coliseum Theatre.

The dark comedy centres on a chance meeting between two elderly writers in a North London pub which leads to an alcohol-fuelled night of reminiscences and verbal sparring. Hirst, a wealthy recluse, invites Spooner, a down-at-heel poet, to his Hampstead townhouse for a nightcap. As the shadows lengthen and the whisky flows, their stories become more elaborate and improbable, until the arrival of two younger men forces events to take an unexpected turn.

Described as his most beguiling and atmospheric play, Pinter interweaves truth, language and memory to create a world of dark comedy and subtle power games.

Michael Cabot, Director and Artistic Director of London Classic Theatre, said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to be working on No Man’s Land. It’s my sixth time directing a Pinter play so it goes without saying I’m a huge admirer of his work.

“The terrific success of Jamie Lloyd’s recent Pinter at the Pinter season has reinforced how his writing still has the power to intrigue and resonate with audiences today and we’re very excited about carrying the torch around the UK this autumn. No Man’s Land is a wonderfully complex, layered play but also full of comic nuance.”

Playwright, director, actor, poet and political activist, Harold Pinter was born in 1930 in East London.

He was one of the most influential modern British dramatists, with a writing career that spanned over 50 years and a Nobel Prize for literature under his belt. No Man’s Land premiered at The Old Vic in London in 1975, starring John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson.

Other notable revivals include Almedia Theatre in London in 1993 in which Pinter himself played Hirst and a production which ran on New York’s Broadway in 2013 and London’s West End in 2016 starring Bolton School old boy Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Patrick Stewart.

Launched in 2000, London Classic Theatre is one of the UK’s leading touring theatre companies. Their recent visits to the Coliseum include: My Mother Said I Never Should in April 2019, Hysteria in 2017), The Birthday Party in 2016) and Waiting for Godot in 2015).

Oldham Coliseum Theatre is the first of 22 venues across the country to receive their new production of No Man’s Land.

The play runs from Thursday, September 5 – Saturday, September 7

No Man’s Land is recommended for ages 16-plus.

Tickets can be booked on 0161 624 2829 or at www.coliseum.org.uk