Betrayal (Thursday’s Child Theatre), at Chapel Off Chapel - 70 minutes

An awkward meeting in a pub between British literary agent Jerry (Gabriel Partington) and his best friend’s wife Emma (Michaela Bedel) two years after their affair ended kicks off proceedings.

My mind turned to a line in the poem Marmion: A Tale of Flodden Field by Sir Walter Scott: “Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive”.

Turning back to Harold Pinter’s incendiary play Betrayal, it is the Spring of 1977.

Photos by Shay Bedel

You may well question why, but Emma has reached out to Jerry and tells him that her marriage effectively ended the previous night.

We learn that she has moved on with an author, whose agent in Jerry and whose publisher is Robert (Heath Ivy-Law), Emma’s husband.

Jerry, who like Emma, is married with two children, always believed that Robert knew nothing of his physical relationship with Emma.

So, it comes as a shock to hear from Emma that she revealed all to him.

A nervous Jerry feels compelled to confront Robert face-to-face, but Robert’s reaction isn’t what Jerry expects.

Thereafter, the play takes a clever turn, walking back through the relationship between Jerry and Emma to the day it started.

That was in the bedroom of Robert and Emma’s house in the Winter of 1968.

The piece unfolds in nine delicious scenes, including in the flat Jerry and Emma bought to carry on their illicit liaison.

From 1977, we move back to 1975, when their affair ended, back again to ’74 and ’73 and then to the passion of ’71, before landing on a giddy Jerry, intoxicated by Emma in ’68.

There is much to love about Pinter’s prose, in what is a warts and all exploration of passion, pain and subterfuge.

He wrote Betrayal in 1978, inspired by his seven-year affair with BBC presenter Joan Bakewell.

The original London production won the Laurence Olivier Award for Play of the Year in 1979.

The original Broadway production claimed the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Foreign Play in 1980.

Under the skilful direction of Rachel Baring, Thursday’s Child Theatre has done the work proud.

The performers breathe new life into the conceit with dexterity and drive.

Gabriel Partington is suitably jittery as Jerry, while Emma’s emotional turmoil is writ large in Michaela Bedel.

Heath Ivy-Law is laid back, pragmatic and, on one occasion, sinister as Robert.

One of the things I love about theatre is that you never know what can happen in the moment.

Such was the case the night I saw Betrayal, when Partington inadvertently channelled his character’s name, when he meant to say Robert’s.

His recovery was instant and absolutely delightful. Metaphorically, it brought the house down and was beautiful to witness.

Basic furnishings and black curtaining from set and costume designer Ella Firns sees a seamless transition between scenes.

Time frames are established with calendar cards.

I commend this production of Betrayal, which – not all that surprisingly – has stood the test of time for, I dare say, as long as the planet exists, so too will affairs.

And, let’s be honest, sex and salaciousness sell. They alway have and always will.

But lest you think that is all there is to Betrayal, I assure you that isn’t the case.

There is humour, heart and hurt, with the brilliance of Harold Pinter turning the screws.

It is on at Chapel Off Chapel until 25th May, 2025.