This is one of my favourite plays. Harold Pinter’s 1978 play, set in London and Venice between 1968 and 1977, charts the course of an extra marital affair in a very different way. The narrative is told in reverse chronological order.
I know exactly why this play is such a stand-out for me. It is the way that Pinter dissects the affair with microscope like detail in his brilliant, nuanced writing.
As the famous quote goes, attributed to Sir Walter Scott, “what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive”. Pinter’s exploration of this web is incisive.
My ‘reading’ of the play is that it as a cautionary tale; how mutual attraction starts an affair, and then it continues with its own escalating momentum and commitment.The play portrays double lives, double commitments, double betrayals, double trouble
Cristabel Sved’s production does justice to Pinter’s brilliant play. Excellent stagecraft is displayed by set and costume designer Melanie Liertz, co-lighting designers Verity Hampson and Luna Ng, composer Steve Toulmin, sound designer Johnny Yang, and audio visual designer Aron Murray.
The performances were excellent; Andrew Cutcliffe plays cuckolded husband Robert who conveys a traditional British stiff upper lip however underneath he is aching, aching twofold, betrayed his wife, Emma, and his very best friend, Jerry.
Ella Scott Lynch is great as the beautiful, delicate ‘English rose’ Emma. Matt Hardie plays the self centred Jerry who can’t stop himself falling for Emma. Jerry’s betrayed wife, Judith, is never seen on stage. Diego Retamales plays genial waiter. Jerry.
The darkness and the undercurrents that come with betrayal are laid bare on the tiny Old Fitz stage, and leave the audience wincing.
A Sport for Jove production, Harold Pinter’s BETRAYAL, directed by Cristabel Sved’s, is playing the Old Fitz theatre until the 10th August.
If you can’t get to the Old Fitz, perhaps even if you do see the play live, try and see David Jones’ 1983 film adaptation, starring Ben Kingsley as Robert, Jeremy Irons as Jerry, and Patricia Hodge as Emma. Ben Kingsley’s inwardly seething performance, in particular, still haunts.
