The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, London

Tributes poured in on Friday for Nobel Prize-winning British playwright Harold Pinter, one of theatre's biggest names for nearly half a century, who died aged 78 on Christmas Eve.

Pinter, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005, had been suffering from cancer, and died Wednesday, with a small private funeral and memorial service to be held at a date to be announced.

At a staging of one of his plays in London's West End, the first such performance since his death, the stars of the drama hailed Pinter as 'one of the greatest literary figures of all time' and read aloud an address to be repeated at his funeral.

After an emotional performance of "No Man's Land," one of the play's stars David Bradley told the sold-out theatre: "We have lost one of the greatest literary figures of all time. His loss is monumental and his influence cannot be calculated."

Pinter's best-known plays included "The Birthday Party," "The Dumb Waiter" and "The Homecoming." His first play, 'The Room,' appeared in 1957 and his breakthrough came with 'The Caretaker' in 1960.