Betrayal

Under the discerning direction of Liz Diamond, the Yale Repertory Theater is presenting a meticulous production of Harold Pinter's Betrayal, which proves that the pen can be more cutting than the sword in this lethally-surgical examination of adultery.  Over the past 40 years, this English playwright, whose name is synonymous with modern theater literature, has written 16 plays, all of which are noted for their spare style, intense pauses and somewhat ambiguous plots.

Much like Mamet, Pinter's precise and powerful dialogue demands an unusual sense of rhythmic delivery, and the actors, here, Stephanie Roth Haberle, John Hines and Richie Coster, have found a tempo that underscores the very restrained passions of the characters they portray.  Since this takes place in England, there's lots of civilized chat about playing squash, but the ambiance of the 1970s is universal.  On a set designed by Adrian W. Jones, painted entirely in green and employing a revolving stage, in nine distinct scenes going backward from 1977 through 1968, Betrayal tells of two couples, Emma and Robert and Jerry and Judith, all betraying each other.  Robert and Jerry are long time friends in the book-publishing business.  Jerry was the best-man at Emma and Robert's wedding.  In the first scene, an attractive couple, Emma, played with cat-like tension by Haberle,  and Jerry, acted with a nice insouciance by Hines, are having a drink together at a pub.  Over a beer and a scotch, interspersed among their superficial greetings, we learn they have not seen each other in several years.  Although each is married with children, they had carried on an affair for seven years, even renting a flat in an out-of-the-way town. 

According to Emma, as of the night before, her marriage to Robert, performed with riveting nastiness by Ritchie Coster, who admits that he has "bashed her" just for the sake of it, is over.  Emma hints at a reconciliation with Jerry.  "Have you ever thought about changing your life?" she asks him.  But selfish Jerry replies emphatically no, insisting that his wife is in love with him.  He is furious when Emma confesses to telling her husband about their affair.  "How could you?  He's my best friend," he says indignantly.  In fact, the two men meet every week for lunch, and it did not bother in him in the least that he was sleeping with his best friend's wife for seven years.   The twist comes much later in the play -- and earlier in the story -- when Robert tells Jerry that he knew the two were involved.  An interesting facet to the tale is that we never meet Judith, a doctor, who is obviously pursuing her own secret life.  Of the three, Harberle's complex "de-aging" from the proper-looking young matron to the endearing lover to the happy young newly-wed is fascinating and should earn her a Connecticut Critics Circle nomination for Best Actress.  William F. Reeves shows off an adorable personality as a Waiter. 

The many costumes by Miranda Hoffman are appropriate to each scene change; the white lacy dress that Emma wears toward the end is smashing.  90 minutes without intermission, Betrayal is an interesting revisit to a time when sex was oh so sporting.