Pause and effect

A conversation with Julian Sands about his mentor, Harold Pinter

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Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter is considered one of the most influential modern British dramatists, but he is probably most famous for something he didn’t write. Or rather, a style he developed that forced his characters to communicate without words, a device that has become known as the Pinter Pause.

“It could be a moment’s breath, a moment’s thought, a moment’s uncertainty, but if you’re an actor, you take that and dwell on it,” said actor Julian Sands by phone from New York. “It gives great information. (It can be) about uncertainty as opposed to an empty comment. I explore that with a little color in the show.”

That would be “A Celebration of Harold Pinter,” the one-man show that Sands has been traveling with throughout North America. On Sunday, he performs at the Wharton Center’s Pasant Theatre. Sands, 56, was a disciple of Pinter before his death in 2008 at the age of 78. Before he died, however, Pinter tapped Sands to fill in for him at a poetry recital.

“I didn’t know anything about his poetry,” Sands said. “But it’s such a contrast to his plays — the voice of the author is an oblique one, but here there is such personal revelation of Harold’s interior life. True feelings, thoughts, and immense sense of humor. Had he not become an actor or a playwright, we might be talking about Harold Pinter the award-winning poet.”

Sands is perhaps most famous for his lead performance in the 1986 Merchant- Ivory production of “A Room with a View,” but he’s also lent strong supporting roles in “Arachnophobia,” “Leaving Las Vegas” and “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.” Sands’ beguiling British accent is serene, almost repentant, a blank canvas upon which the actor can build a character. But he says that in “A Celebration,” he doesn’t attempt to adopt any of Pinter’s mannerisms.

“I never set out to impersonate him, but he has a habit of channeling himself through me and the writing — it’s so clearly written for his voice,” Sands said. “I don’t think I’ve ever done this show without that sense that Harold wasn’t hovering around.”

After Pinter died, Sands repeated the show in what was initially supposed to be a one-off, but after repeated requests, he worked with his friend, actor John Malkovich (another Pinter fan), to hone it into a brief run in Ireland.

“(The response) was so enthusiastic, we did 10 shows in New York, and wound up doing 50,” Sands said. “And all roads lead to Lansing.”

Sands said audiences can expect about 85 minutes of Pinter’s poetry, prose, snips of interviews and commentaries from his contemporaries. Above it all, he said, this is entertainment that appeals to our humanity, and “we can all take great comfort that people like Harold Pinter were able to express aspects of that that common humanity in such beautiful, poignant and thrilling ways.”

If people know a lot about Harold Pinter, they will have context for everything they hear and see,” Sands said. “People who know nothing about him will have the opportunity to learn and enjoy. This isn’t an English literature lecture; this is an ancient night in the theater. It captures what theater was in pre-Classical times. Somebody standing in a pool of moonlight and telling a story. That’s what I do. I tell the story of Harold Pinter and his work. And it’s a good story.”

“Julian Sands in: A Celebration of Harold Pinter”

7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 16 $15-$45 Wharton Center, Pasant Theatre 750 E. Shaw Lane, MSU campus, East Lansing (800) WHARTON, whartoncenter.com

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