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Betrayal (play)

Betrayal is a play written by Harold Pinter in 1978. The play deals with an affair that entangles a married couple, Emma and Robert, and their close friend Jerry (who is also married). The play is innovative in its particular uses of reverse chronology: the first scene takes place after the affair has dissolved; the final scene ends with the moment the affair begins.

Betrayal is regarded as one of Pinter's major plays, featuring his characteristic staccato dialogue and oblique, veiled scenes of one-upmanship.

Narrative Structure

Betrayal uses a selective form of reverse chronology. Each year is shown in reverse order, but all scenes within that year go forward.

Scene 1. Pub. Noon. 1977: Jerry discovers Emma has told her husband, Robert, about their 7-year affair, even though it ended two years earlier.
Scene 2. Jerry's House. Study. Spring1977: Jerry effortfully apologizes to Robert only for Robert to reveal he's known about the affair "for years." Jerry is now the one who feels betrayed.
Scene 3. Flat. Winter 1975: Emma and Jerry decide to give up the flat they have rented for their afternoon assignations, thereby ending the affair.
Scene 4. Robert and Emma's House. Autumn. 1974: Over a drink, Robert invites Jerry - with elaborate hidden aggression - to play squash with him, purposefully excluding his wife.
Scene 5. Hotel. Venice. Summer 1973: Robert confronts Emma with a letter she's received from Jerry. She admits they have been lovers for five years. The betrayal is deepened because Jerry, we learn, was best man at their wedding.
Scene 6. Flat. Summer 1973: Before they make love, Jerry asks Emma about her trip to Venice. She does not tell him about Robert's discovery.
Scene 7. Restaurant. Summer 1973: Robert lunches with Jerry, drinking heavily as he tells Jerry about his trip to Venice. He insists he was particularly happy on what we know is the day he discovered the affair. (His own private victory.)
Scene 8. Flat. Summer 1971: Emma reveals she ran into Jerry's wife. He dismisses the idea that she is having an affair of her own. Emma reveals she is pregnant by her husband, conceived while Jerry was away.
Scene 9. Robert and Emma's House. Bedroom. Winter 1968: While alone at a party, Jerry drunkenly declares his feelings for Emma. She tells Robert, "Your best friend is drunk." He agrees good-naturedly and leaves. She tries to follow, but Jerry clasps her arm and she stops. "They stand still, looking at each other."

Productions

London

Betrayal was first produced by the National Theatre in London on November 15, 1978. The original cast featured Penelope Wilton as Emma, Michael Gambon as Jerry, Daniel Massey as Robert, and Artro Morris as the waiter. It was designed by John Bury and directed by Peter Hall. Later, it opened on Broadway on January 5, 1980 with Raul Julia as Jerry, Blythe Danner as Emma, and Roy Scheider as Robert.

Due to a program note about the author accompanying productions of the play, stating that he "has lived [with] Antonia Fraser" for "five years", the biographical context for the play has been attributed erroneously to Pinter's affair with Lady Antonia Fraser, which occurred from 1975 to 1980, while he was still married to Vivien Merchant. (Pinter married Antonia Fraser in 1980, after the Frasers' divorce (1977) and the Pinters' divorce (1980) became final.) In actuality, Pinter explained to his official biographer, Michael Billington, the play is based on an affair he had in 1962-69 with television presenter Joan Bakewell, who was married to producer and director Michael Bakewell at that time.

In 2007, Roger Michell staged a revival of Betrayal at the Donmar Warehouse theatre starring Toby Stephens as Jerry, Samuel West as Robert, and Dervla Kirwan as Emma. Pinter reportedly lunched with the actors, attended an early "readthrough" and provided some advice, which, according to Stephens, included ignoring some of Pinter's famous pauses. The play was also revived in the Lyttelton at the National Theatre in November 1998, directed by Trevor Nunn and starring Douglas Hodge, Imogen Stubbs and Anthony Calf.

New York

The play made its debut premiere on Broadway on 5 January 1980 at the Trafalgar Theatre where it ran for 170 performances to close on 31 May 1980. A 2000 Broadway revival was staged at the American Airlines Theatre with Juliette Binoche, Liev Schreiber, and John Slattery.