Betrayal

It’s London, late 1970s. In a working-class pub, two middle aged people, Jerry and Emma, awkwardly chat. Is it a first date? Tension, unspoken want, and stale booze fill the air. Welcome to Betrayal.

Harold Pinter’s acclaimed piece about broken marriages, dreams and ultimately human nature has been given a contemporary refresh at the Melbourne Theatre Company. The story is simple: Emma has been having an affair with Jerry, the best friend of her husband Robert, for years. Pinter’s play picks up the action two years after Emma and Jerry have split, where Emma announces she’s finally divorcing Robert.

Here’s where things get interesting. Pinter takes us back through the affair in reverse chronology – the audience seeing the ups, downs, and reasons for the six year affair through various countries across the ’70s. It’s a fascinating storytelling technique and one the MTC team have interpreted creatively.

During each time jump, a line of props spins around the stage, music blasts and lights wash over the audience as the cast change and sets are constructed with the finesse of a Formula 1 pitstop crew. The scene cuts work well, but can be jarring and take you out of the narrative.

Jerry (Nathan O’Keefe) has the biggest role and appears in every scene as the tormented, foppish and ultimately indecisive Jerry. Alison Bell is magnetic as Emma, the woman caught between her bore of a husband and her love that doesn’t want to commit.

While Mark Saturno is excellent as Robert. He’s a prick who freely admits cheating on, and occasionally beating Emma. Robert gets the best lines and Saturno clearly relishes chewing through Robert’s hard-boiled dialogue.

While none of the characters in Betrayal are particularly likeable, it’s hard to not sympathise with the gap between their ideals and reality. Emma wants escape from Robert and life of domesticity, Jerry wants a bit on the side without having to leave the stability of his wife. Robert seems to just want to be left alone to drink.

While some of the cultural references in Betrayal have aged like a pair of floral-print flares, the themes of waning love, stale marriages and the hope of escape remain relevant. Worth a look.

Betrayal
Southbank Theatre, 140 Southbank Boulevard, Southbank
Wednesday August 26 – Saturday October 3
mtc.com.au/plays-and-tickets/mainstage-2015/betrayal