Harold Pinter's Betrayal in Canberra: Time twist 'knits everything together'

By Ron Cerabona
Updated April 23 2018 - 9:58pm, first published August 14 2015 - 11:45pm

Adultery is not an unusual subject for drama. But Harold Pinter's 1978 play Betrayal chronicles an affair and its aftermath in a distinctive way. The action begins in 1977, two years after the break-up of the seven-year relationship of Emma (played by former Canberran Alison Bell) and literary agent Jerry (Nathan O'Keefe), while they were were married to other people: she to Robert (Mark Saturno), Jerry's friend since university, who works in publishing. The play then goes backwards in time, playing out some crucial scenes over the next few years and ending in 1968 as Emma and Jerry's clandestine relationship begins.

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