Betrayal on Broadway Tickets

By: Harold Pinter
Director: Jamie Lloyd
Producer: Ambassador Theatre Group, Benjamin Lowy Productions, Glass Half Full Productions, and Gavin Kalin Productions
Cast list: Tom Hiddleston (as Robert), Zawe Ashton (as Emma), Charlie Cox (as Jerry), and Eddie Arnold (as the Waiter)
Design: Soutra Gilmour
Lighting: Jon Clark
Costume: Soutra Gilmour
Sound: Ben and Max Ringham

There’s a reason why the classics are as such: they are always relevant. That’s certainly true of “Betrayal,” Harold Pinter’s 1978 tour de force, which returns to Broadway for a limited engagement after a smash hit (and sold-out) run in London’s West End. Pinter’s knack for deliciously sly character’s with an agenda is on full display in the drama about a seven-year romance, cunningly told in reverse chronology.

Though rife with tension and tears, “Betrayal” — regarded as one of the late English playwright’s best works—is also deeply funny. Under the acute direction of Jamie Lloyd, this Main Stem run is led by Tom Hiddleston alongside Zawe Ashton, and Charlie Cox, all of whom are reprising their roles from across the pond. Running at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, this reimagined production tells the timeless story in a “revealing, even radical, new light,” according to New York Times.

Children under 4 are not permitted in the theatre.

What to watch for

This production of “Betrayal” was initially staged in London at the playwright’s namesake theater as part of an “all-Pinter” season. For a six-month span, the West End house played only Harold Pinter one-acts, closing with “Betrayal.” The New York Times said in summation of the lineup, “Talk about saving the best for last.”

Tom Hiddleston, Zawe Ashton, and Charlie Cox make their Broadway debuts in “Betrayal.” However, the British performers are certainly not new to the stage. Hiddleston, though best-known for his roles in the “Avengers” franchise now, is a veteran of the theater, having starred in such classics as “Othello,” “A Streetcar Named Desire,” and in the title role in a recent production of “Hamlet.”

“Betrayal” was adapted into a film in 1983 — by Pinter himself. Directed by David Jones, the silver screen incarnation starred heavy-hitters Jeremy Irons, Ben Kingsley, and Patricia Hodge, and was roundly praised. In fact, seminal critic Roger Ebert said in his review, “There is a lot in this movie that is wonderful… but what makes it all work is the structure.”

At the time of its opening, this “Betrayal” becomes the fourth staging to hit Broadway. Having made its American debut in 1980 at the Trafalgar Theatre (now the Nederlander), it was revived again in 2000 starring Juliette Binoche, Liev Schreiber, and John Slattery, then once more in 2013 led by Daniel Craig, his real-life wife Rachel Weisz, and Rafe Spall.