Betrayal

Harold Pinter's Betrayal (1978) is a sharp look at two kinds of love stories - marriage and affair. Both relationships are taken apart in a series of meetings and conversations that occur between the three characters. Starting in 1977, the play unfolds in reverse chronology, when sometimes lovers Jerry and Emma meet after a gap of two years. From here, it spirals backward all the way to 1968 to the helpless first transgression when Jerry, Robert's closest friend, declares his undying love for Emma, Robert's wife. Along the way, the audience is drawn into various events in time, when things both said and unsaid create a riveting theatrical experience. This compact yet deeply intricate emotional triangle keeps everyone guessing about a loved one's true intentions and loyalties. The audience watches Robert, Emma, and Jerry fall prey to their own deceptions of each other, and Pinter's 'end before the beginning' structure ensures the absent person in a scene remains brutally imprinted on something that took place without them but alters their future. The lines of questioning, confessing, and evading are relentless. Humorous but always heartbreaking, the play presents a searingly tender picture of fragile memories, wounded hearts and how easily our grasp over reality can unravel.