The Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter's critically acclaimed play Betrayal has come to Canberra Theatre Centre and is promising to make audiences "squirm in their seats".
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The State Theatre Company of South Australia presents one of the English dramatist's major works, which according to actor Nathan O'Keefe is "about actions, reactions and consequences, just not in that order".
O'Keefe is referring to the play's fractured chronology. He plays "the other man" in a love-friendship triangle between his character, Jerry, Robert (played by Mark Saturno) and Emma (Alison Bell).
Betrayal, directed by artistic director Geordie Brookman, begins at the end of an affair.
It's 1977 and Emma is married to Robert, but has been cheating with Robert's best friend Jerry for the past seven years.
The play journeys backwards, but Saturno says it's more than simply going in reverse.
"It jumps ahead in a couple of spots, so you've really got to be on your toes," he said.
"So a lot of the time the audience actually knows a lot more than the characters on stage. It's more of a 'How are they going to get out of this situation?' than a reveal of the ending. That's what is so fascinating and icky."
But Bell, originally from Canberra but who has not performed in her home city since she became an actress, hopes people will see beyond the plot's surface and appreciate its intricacy regarding human emotion.
"I'm thrilled to bring a piece like this back home, but I hope they [the audience] take away much more than a story about infidelity," Bell said.
"This play has a lot to do with lacking emotional courage and I think as human beings we all do that; we all take the easy road sometimes."
Portraying the complexity of the characters, combined with the fragmented timeline and the fact it's a "universally loved piece of writing written by a genius" was "terrifying" for O'Keefe, but he wouldn't have it any other way.
"I often say, if we felt like we were on top of things during rehearsal, we'd be doing something wrong," he said.
"It requires so much discipline and work and it's intimidating and terrifying, and it should be… It's a masterpiece."
Betrayal is on at the Canberra Theatre Centre from 19-22 August. Ticket prices are between $50 and $70.
