One of Nobel prize-winner Harold Pinter’s most critically acclaimed works, Betrayal tells the story of a long-running affair and the punishing effect of the lies and complex jealousies of the three people involved: Emma, Jerry, and Emma’s husband, Robert. Emma and Jerry, attracted to each other since the night of her wedding to Robert, begin an affair. It goes on for seven years. Emma reveals that she confessed the truth to Robert. Jerry, confused, goes to Robert to explain himself. To his surprise, Robert tells him that he has known about the affair for years, a fascinating game of sexual manipulation between the three of them. Told in reverse chronology, Pinter underlines both the emotional complexity and the painful price of desire, of truth and lies, and what we conceal from each other and from ourselves.
“There are no hard distinctions between what is real and what is unreal, nor between what is true and what is false. A thing is not necessarily either true or false; it can be both true and false."
Harold Pinter
TOP TEN! RECOMMENDED!
“An outstanding cast whose work rings true … reflective of Michel and Duncombe’s uncompromising theatrical standards, City Garage’s production is a welcome opportunity to experience a masterly play that, despite its inverted structure, is arguably Pinter at his most accessible.”
— F. Kathleen Foley, Stage Raw
https://stageraw.com/betrayal/
WOW!
“You’ll see why Pinter is a playwright whose writing is best appreciated performed as is being done now on the City Garage stage. ... Director Frédérique Michel elicits sharp performances from three longtime company members. Dunn gives Jerry a Jeremy Irons-like edge and finesse, one that contrasts nicely with Frank’s pony-tailed, considerably more laid-back Robert, and the always captivating Beyer once again proves herself City Garage’s go-to leading lady in a performance that combines British reserve with continental sensuality.”
— Steven Stanley, Stage Scene LA
https://stagescenela.com/2024/02/betrayal-3/
“Sometimes scorching, sometimes hilarious, always intriguing exploration of human relations…what really grabs our attention and hearts are the performances.”
— Zahir Blue, Night Tinted Glasses
https://zahirblue.blogspot.com/2024/02/betrayal-review.html
“To succeed in performing specific playwrights, talent is not enough, a mastery of style is not merely required, it is essential….Fortunately, the cast at City Garage is up for the challenge….Directed by Frédérique Michel with her usual aplomb and with a firm foundation provided by Producer Charles A. Duncombe, City Garage, offers the opportunity to see a masterful staging of Betrayal, one that would win the acknowledgement of even the notorious scornful playwright as perfectly Pinteresque.”
Earnest Kearney, The TVolution
https://thetvolution.com/2024/02/harold-pinters-betrayal-faithfully-realized-at-city-garage/