Harold Pinter, A Wake For Sam, BBC TV 1990

Another find from my library browsing.

Harold Pinter, A Wake For Sam, BBC TV, 1990
Printed in Pinter's Various Voices.

"I first met Samuel Beckett in 1961 in Paris when my play, The Caretaker, was being produced. He came into the hotel walking very quickly indeed. He had a sharp stride and quick handshake. He was extremely friendly. I'd known his work for many years of course but it hadn't led me to believe he'd be such a very fast driver. He drove his little Citroen from bar to bar throughout the whole evening, very quickly indeed. We finally ended up in a place in Les Halles eating onion soup at about 4 in the morning and I was by this time overcome -- through, I think, alcohol, tobacco and excitement -- with indigestion and heartburn, so I lay my head down on the table. When I looked up he was gone. I had no idea where he'd gone and I thought, 'Perhaps this has all been a dream.' I think I went to sleep on the table and about forty-five minutes later the table jolted and there he was and he had a package in his hand, a bag. And he said, 'I've been across the whole of Paris to find this. I finally found it.' And he opened the bag and gave me a tin of bicarbonate of soda, which indeed worked wonders."

I'm glad I found this section for the fascinating tidbits about Beckett, but more importantly because my life is overwhelmed with heartburn and indigestion, and I'm going to find myself a tin of bicarbonate of soda.

[october update: the alka-seltzer works]