Betrayal (play)
Encyclopedia
Betrayal is a play written by Harold Pinter
in 1978. Critically regarded as one of the English playwright's major dramatic works
, it features his characteristically economical dialogue, characters' hidden emotions and veiled motivations, and their self-absorbed competitive one-upmanship, face-saving, dishonesty, and (self-)deceptions.
Inspired by Pinter's clandestine extramarital affair with BBC Television
presenter Joan Bakewell, which occurred for seven years, from 1962 to 1969, the plot of Betrayal exposes different permutations of betrayal and kinds of betrayals occurring over a period of nine years, relating to a seven-year affair involving a married couple, Emma and Robert, and Robert's "close friend" Jerry, who is also married, to a woman named Judith. For five years Jerry and Emma carry on their affair without Robert's knowledge, both cuckolding Robert and betraying Judith, until Emma, without telling Jerry she has done so, admits her infidelity to Robert (in effect, betraying Jerry), although she continues their affair. In 1977, four years after exposing the affair (in 1973) and two years after their subsequent break up (in 1975), Emma meets with Jerry to tell him that her marriage to Robert is over. She then lies to Jerry in telling him that, "last night", she had to reveal the truth to Robert and that he now knows of the affair. The truth however, is that Robert has known about the affair for the past four years.
Pinter's particular usage of reverse chronology
in structuring the plot is innovative: the first scene takes place after the affair has ended, in 1977; the final scene ends when the affair begins, in 1968; and, in between 1977 and 1968, scenes in two pivotal years (1977 and 1973) move forward chronologically. As Roger Ebert
observes, in his review of the 1983 film
, based on Pinter's own screenplay, "The 'Betrayal' structure strips away all artifice. It shows, heartlessly, that the very capacity for love itself is sometimes based on betraying not only other loved ones, but even ourselves."
1977
1975
1974
1973
1971
1968
In 1977 Emma is 38, Jerry and Robert are 40. (n. pag. [7])
in London on 15 November 1978. The original cast featured Penelope Wilton
as Emma, Michael Gambon
as Jerry, Daniel Massey
as Robert, and Artro Morris as the waiter. It was designed by John Bury and directed by Peter Hall.
In 2007, Roger Michell
staged a revival of Betrayal at the Donmar Warehouse
theatre starring Toby Stephens
as Jerry, Samuel West
as Robert, and Dervla Kirwan
as Emma. Pinter reportedly lunched with the actors, attended an early "readthrough" and provided some advice, which, according to Stephens, included ignoring some of Pinter's famous pauses (Lawson). The play was also revived in the Lyttelton at the National Theatre in November 1998, directed by Trevor Nunn
and starring Douglas Hodge
, Imogen Stubbs
, and Anthony Calf
. In 2011, a new West End production at the Comedy Theatre, directed by Ian Rickson
, starred Kristin Scott Thomas
, Douglas Henshall
, and Ben Miles
.
, production stage manager Marnel Sumner, stage manager Ian Thomson, press by Seymour Krawitz and Patricia McLean Krawitz. It opened with Raul Julia
as Jerry, Blythe Danner
as Emma, Roy Scheider
as Robert, Ian Thomson as Barman, and Ernesto Gasco as Waiter.
A 2000 Broadway revival was staged at the American Airlines Theatre
with Juliette Binoche
, Liev Schreiber
, and John Slattery
.
directed a production of Betrayal, designed by Peter England, at the Sydney Theatre Company
, from 10 March through 17 April 1999; it starred Paul Goddard
, Robert Menzies
, and Angie Milliken
.
A reader's theatre
format of Betrayal was producted by the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre and directed by Yankov Wong on 6 March 2010.
In September 2010, theatrical group We Draman put the show on stage with a translated script by Cancer Chong, featuring renowned stage actress Alice Lau as Emma.
stars as Emma. Tony Laudadio plays the character of Robert. Enrico Ianniello plays the part of Jerry. Nicola Marchi plays the part of a waiter. The play has been very successful and has been touring in Italy for over two years and will return again in early 2012 with the same cast.
, starring Jeremy Irons
(Jerry), Ben Kingsley
(Robert), and Patricia Hodge
(Emma).
, while Pinter was married to actress Vivien Merchant
. The affair was known in some circles; when Betrayal premiered on stage in 1978, Lord Longford (father of Antonia Fraser
), who was in the audience, commented that Emma appeared to be based on Joan Bakewell; but the affair only became public knowledge after it was confirmed by Pinter in Billington's 1996 authorised biography, which was further confirmed in Joan Bakewell's later memoir The Centre of the Bed.
A program note about the author accompanying productions of the play, stating that he "has lived [with] Antonia Fraser
" for "five years, when the play was first produced and published in 1978, led some to assume that the play was based on their relationship; thus, the biographical context for the play was (mis)attributed to Pinter's affair with Lady Antonia Fraser, which occurred from 1975 to 1980, while he was still married to Vivien Merchant
. Pinter married Antonia Fraser in 1980, after the Frasers' divorce (1977) and the Pinters' divorce (1980) became final (Billington 253–54).
In the mid 1990s, Pinter explained to his official authorised biographer Michael Billington
that, although he wrote the play while "otherwise engaged" with Fraser, he actually based some details of the play on the clandestine affair which he conducted from 1962 to 1969 with BBC Television presenter Joan Bakewell.
" (1997), episode 8 of the 9th (final) season of the NBC
Television series Seinfeld
(Sony Pictures), alludes overtly to Pinter's play and film Betrayal, which appears to have inspired it. Apart from the title, "The Betrayal", and the name of one-off character Pinter Ranawat who appears in the episode, the episode is structured and runs in reverse chronological order and also features love triangles as one of its central themes. According to Kent Yoder, all of these allusions were deliberate.
. Sony Pictures, 2009. World Wide Web
. 11 Mar. 2009. (Includes a video clip
.)
Bakewell, Joan. The Centre of the Bed. London: Hodder & Stoughton
, 2003. ISBN 0340823100 (10). ISBN 9780340823101 (13). Print.
Billington, Michael
. Harold Pinter. Rev. and expanded ed. 1996. London: Faber and Faber
, 2007. Print.
Bryden, Mary. Rev. of Betrayal (One from the Heart at The Camberley Theatre
, February 2002). 204–06 in "The Caretaker and Betrayal. The Pinter Review: Collected Essays 2003 and 2004. Ed. Francis Gillen and Steven H. Gale. Tampa: U of Tampa P, 2004. 202–06. ISBN 1879852179 (10). ISBN 9781879852174 (13). Print.
Canby, Vincent
. "Movie Review: Betrayal (1983): Pinter's 'Betrayal,' Directed by David Jones". New York Times
, Movies. New York Times Company
, 20 Feb. 1983. Web
. 11 Mar. 2009.
Ebert, Roger
. "Movies: 'Betrayal' ". Chicago Sun-Times
18 Mar. 1983. RogerEbert.com, 2009. Web
. 11 Mar. 2009.
Lawson, Mark
. "Prodigal Son". Guardian.co.uk
. Guardian Media Group
, 31 May 2007. Web
. 11 Mar. 2009.
Merritt, Susan Hollis. "Betrayal in Denver" (Denver Center Theatre Company, Denver Center for the Performing Arts
, Denver, CO. 29 May 2002). The Pinter Review: Collected Essays 2003 and 2004. Ed. Francis Gillen and Steven H. Gale. Tampa: U of Tampa P, 2004. 187–201. ISBN 1879852179 (10). ISBN 9781879852174 (13). Print.
Pinter, Harold
. Betrayal. 1978. New York: Grove Press
, 1979. ISBN 0394505255 (10). ISBN 9780394505251 (13). ISBN 0394170849 (10). ISBN 9780394170848 (13). Print. (Parenthetical references in the text are to this edition, ISBN 0394170849. Pinter indicates pauses by three spaced dots of ellipsis; editorial ellipses herein are unspaced and within brackets.)
Quigley, Austin E.
. "Pinter: Betrayal". Chapter 11 of The Modern Stage and Other Worlds. New York: Methuen, 1985. 221–52. ISBN 0416393209 (10). ISBN 9780416393200 (13). Print. Chapter 11: "Pinter: Betrayal" in Limited preview at Google Books (omits some pages). Web
. 11 Mar. 2009.
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
in 1978. Critically regarded as one of the English playwright's major dramatic works
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
, it features his characteristically economical dialogue, characters' hidden emotions and veiled motivations, and their self-absorbed competitive one-upmanship, face-saving, dishonesty, and (self-)deceptions.
Inspired by Pinter's clandestine extramarital affair with BBC Television
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
presenter Joan Bakewell, which occurred for seven years, from 1962 to 1969, the plot of Betrayal exposes different permutations of betrayal and kinds of betrayals occurring over a period of nine years, relating to a seven-year affair involving a married couple, Emma and Robert, and Robert's "close friend" Jerry, who is also married, to a woman named Judith. For five years Jerry and Emma carry on their affair without Robert's knowledge, both cuckolding Robert and betraying Judith, until Emma, without telling Jerry she has done so, admits her infidelity to Robert (in effect, betraying Jerry), although she continues their affair. In 1977, four years after exposing the affair (in 1973) and two years after their subsequent break up (in 1975), Emma meets with Jerry to tell him that her marriage to Robert is over. She then lies to Jerry in telling him that, "last night", she had to reveal the truth to Robert and that he now knows of the affair. The truth however, is that Robert has known about the affair for the past four years.
Pinter's particular usage of reverse chronology
Reverse chronology
Reverse chronology is a method of story-telling whereby the plot is revealed in reverse order.In a story employing this technique, the first scene shown is actually the conclusion to the plot...
in structuring the plot is innovative: the first scene takes place after the affair has ended, in 1977; the final scene ends when the affair begins, in 1968; and, in between 1977 and 1968, scenes in two pivotal years (1977 and 1973) move forward chronologically. As Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
observes, in his review of the 1983 film
Betrayal (1983 film)
Betrayal is a film adaptation of Harold Pinter's 1978 play of the same name. With a semi-autobiographical screenplay by Pinter, the film was produced by Sam Spiegel and directed by David Jones. It was critically well received, praised notably by New York Times film critic Vincent Canby and by...
, based on Pinter's own screenplay, "The 'Betrayal' structure strips away all artifice. It shows, heartlessly, that the very capacity for love itself is sometimes based on betraying not only other loved ones, but even ourselves."
Synopsis
The years between 1968 and 1977 occur in reverse order; scenes within years 1977 and 1973 move forward.1977
- Scene One: Pub. 1977. Spring.
- Emma and Jerry meet for the first time in two years. For 7 years they had an affair and a secret flat, and Jerry says no-one else knew. Now Emma is having an affair with Casey, an author whose agent is Jerry and whose publisher is Robert, Emma’s husband. Emma says she found out last night that Robert has betrayed her with other women for years, and admits she revealed her affair with Jerry.
- Scene Two: Jerry's House. Later the same day.
- Jerry meets Robert to talk about the affair. Robert reveals that in fact he learned about it 4 years ago. Since then their friendship has continued, albeit without playing squash.
1975
- Scene Three: Flat. 1975. Winter.
- It is the end of Jerry and Emma’s affair. They rarely meet, and Emma’s hopes that the flat would be a different kind of home are unfulfilled. They agree to give it up.
1974
- Scene Four: Robert and Emma's House. Living room. 1974. Autumn.
- Jerry visits Robert and Emma at home. He reveals that Casey has left his wife and is living nearby. Jerry and Robert plan to play squash, but Jerry reveals that first he is visiting New York with Casey.
1973
- Scene Five: Hotel Room. 1973. Summer.
- Robert and Emma are on holiday, intending to visit Torcello tomorrow. Emma is reading a book by Spinks, another author whose agent is Jerry. Robert says he refused to publish it because there is not much more to say about betrayal. Robert has discovered that Emma has received a private letter from Jerry. Emma admits they are having an affair.
- Scene Six: Flat. 1973. Summer.
- Emma has returned from the holiday with Robert in Venice. She has bought a tablecloth for the flat. Jerry reveals that despite the affair he continues to lunch with Robert.
- Scene Seven: Restaurant. 1973. Summer.
- Robert gets drunk over lunch with Jerry. He says he hates modern novels, and that he went to Torcello on his own and read Yeats.
1971
- Scene Eight: Flat. 1971. Summer.
- Emma wants to know whether Jerry’s wife suspects his affair, and announces that while Jerry was in America she became pregnant with Robert’s child.
1968
- Scene Nine: Robert and Emma's House. Bedroom. 1968. Winter.
- During a party Jerry surprises Emma in her bedroom and declares his love for her. He tells Robert he is his oldest friend as well as his best man.
Characters
- Emma
- Jerry
- Robert
- Waiter
In 1977 Emma is 38, Jerry and Robert are 40. (n. pag. [7])
London
Betrayal was first produced by the National TheatreRoyal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
in London on 15 November 1978. The original cast featured Penelope Wilton
Penelope Wilton
Penelope Alice Wilton, OBE is an English actress.-Life and career:Penelope Alice Wilton was born in Scarborough, North Riding of Yorkshire, to a former actress mother and a businessman father. She is a niece of actors Bill Travers and Linden Travers and a cousin of the actor Richard Morant...
as Emma, Michael Gambon
Michael Gambon
Sir Michael John Gambon, CBE is an Irish actor who has worked in theatre, television and film. A highly respected theatre actor, Gambon is recognised for his roles as Philip Marlowe in the BBC television serial The Singing Detective, as Jules Maigret in the 1990s ITV serial Maigret, and as...
as Jerry, Daniel Massey
Daniel Massey (actor)
Daniel Raymond Massey was an English actor and performer. He is possibly best known for his starring role in the British TV drama The Roads to Freedom, as Daniel, alongside Michael Bryant...
as Robert, and Artro Morris as the waiter. It was designed by John Bury and directed by Peter Hall.
In 2007, Roger Michell
Roger Michell
Roger Michell is an English theatre, television and film director.-Personal life:He was born in Pretoria, South Africa but spent significant parts of his childhood in Beirut, Damascus and Prague as his father was a diplomat. He was educated at Clifton College where he became a member of Brown's...
staged a revival of Betrayal at the Donmar Warehouse
Donmar Warehouse
Donmar Warehouse is a small not-for-profit theatre in the Covent Garden area of London, with a capacity of 251.-About:Under the artistic leadership of Michael Grandage, the theatre has presented some of London’s most memorable award-winning theatrical experiences, as well as garnered critical...
theatre starring Toby Stephens
Toby Stephens
Toby Stephens is an English stage, television and film actor who has appeared in films in both Hollywood and Bollywood. He is best known for playing megavillain Gustav Graves in the James Bond film Die Another Day , Edward Fairfax Rochester in the BBC television adaptation of Jane Eyre and Philip...
as Jerry, Samuel West
Samuel West
Samuel Alexander Joseph West is an English actor and theatre director. He is perhaps best known for his role in Howards End and his work on stage. He also starred in the award-winning play ENRON...
as Robert, and Dervla Kirwan
Dervla Kirwan
Dervla Kirwan is an Irish actress famous for roles in British television shows such as Ballykissangel and Goodnight Sweetheart...
as Emma. Pinter reportedly lunched with the actors, attended an early "readthrough" and provided some advice, which, according to Stephens, included ignoring some of Pinter's famous pauses (Lawson). The play was also revived in the Lyttelton at the National Theatre in November 1998, directed by Trevor Nunn
Trevor Nunn
Sir Trevor Robert Nunn, CBE is an English theatre, film and television director. Nunn has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed musicals and dramas for the stage, as well as opera...
and starring Douglas Hodge
Douglas Hodge
Douglas Hodge is an English actor, director, and musician who trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.Hodge is a council member of the National Youth Theatre for whom, in 1989, he co-wrote Pacha Mama's Blessing about the Amazon rain forests staged at the Almeida...
, Imogen Stubbs
Imogen Stubbs
Imogen Stubbs, Lady Nunn is an English actress and playwright.-Early life:Imogen Stubbs was born in Northumberland, lived briefly in Portsmouth, where her father was a naval officer, and then moved with her parents to London, where they lived on an elderly river barge on the Thames...
, and Anthony Calf
Anthony Calf
Anthony Calf is a British actor, born in Hammersmith, London, England. He studied acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art . He has recurring roles in the television medical drama Holby City, as Michael Beauchamp, and New Tricks as Strickland...
. In 2011, a new West End production at the Comedy Theatre, directed by Ian Rickson
Ian Rickson
Ian Rickson is a British theatre and film director. He was the Artistic Director at the Royal Court Theatre in London from 1998 to 2006, and currently works freelance....
, starred Kristin Scott Thomas
Kristin Scott Thomas
Kristin A. Scott Thomas, OBE is an English actress who has also acquired French nationality. She gained international recognition in the 1990s for her roles in Bitter Moon, Four Weddings and a Funeral and The English Patient....
, Douglas Henshall
Douglas Henshall
Douglas James Henshall is a Scottish actor probably best known for his role as Professor Nick Cutter in the British science fiction series Primeval.-Early life:...
, and Ben Miles
Ben Miles
Ben Miles is an English actor, best known for his starring role as Patrick Maitland in the British TV comedy Coupling, from 2000 to 2004.-Life and career:...
.
New York
The play had its American premiere on Broadway on 5 January 1980 at the Trafalgar Theatre where it ran for 170 performances to close on 31 May 1980. The show was directed by Peter Hall, design by John BuryJohn Bury (theatre designer)
John Bury was a British set designer, costume designer and lighting designer who designed in theatre in the UK, West End and Broadway and international opera. He had a long creative relationship with director Peter Hall...
, production stage manager Marnel Sumner, stage manager Ian Thomson, press by Seymour Krawitz and Patricia McLean Krawitz. It opened with Raul Julia
Raúl Juliá
Raúl Rafael Juliá y Arcelay was a Puerto Rican actor.Born in San Juan, he gained interest in acting while still in school. Upon completing his studies, Juliá decided to pursue a career in acting. After performing in the local scene for some time, he was convinced by entertainment personality Orson...
as Jerry, Blythe Danner
Blythe Danner
Blythe Katherine Danner is an American actress. She is the mother of actress Gwyneth Paltrow and director Jake Paltrow.-Early life:...
as Emma, Roy Scheider
Roy Scheider
Roy Richard Scheider was an American actor. He was best known for his leading role as police chief Martin C...
as Robert, Ian Thomson as Barman, and Ernesto Gasco as Waiter.
A 2000 Broadway revival was staged at the American Airlines Theatre
American Airlines Theatre
The American Airlines Theatre is a Broadway theatre, located at 227 West 42nd Street, New York City.-Design:Originally named the Selwyn Theatre, it was constructed by the Selwyn brothers, Edgar and Archie, in 1918. It was one of three theatres they built and controlled on 42nd Street, along with...
with Juliette Binoche
Juliette Binoche
Juliette Binoche is a French actress, artist and dancer. She has appeared in more than 40 feature films, been recipient of numerous international accolades, is a published author and has appeared on stage across the world. Coming from an artistic background, she began taking acting lessons during...
, Liev Schreiber
Liev Schreiber
Isaac Liev Schreiber , commonly known as Liev Schreiber, is an American actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. He became known during the late 1990s and early 2000s, having initially appeared in several independent films, and later mainstream Hollywood films, including the Scream trilogy of...
, and John Slattery
John Slattery
John M. Slattery, Jr. is an American actor and director, best known for his role as Roger Sterling on AMC's series Mad Men. He has been nominated for many awards, and has won two SAG Awards with the Mad Men ensemble....
.
Australia
David BertholdDavid Berthold
David Berthold is a leading Australian theatre director. He has directed for most of Australia's major theatre companies, as well as internationally. Since November 2008, he has been Artistic Director and Chief Executive Officer of La Boite Theatre Company...
directed a production of Betrayal, designed by Peter England, at the Sydney Theatre Company
Sydney Theatre Company
The Sydney Theatre Company is one of Australia's best-known theatre companies operating from The Wharf Theatre near The Rocks area of Sydney, as well as the Sydney Theatre and the Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre....
, from 10 March through 17 April 1999; it starred Paul Goddard
Paul Goddard (actor)
Paul Goddard is an actor based in Australia.His best known roles are Agent Brown in the film The Matrix and Stark in the science fiction television series Farscape....
, Robert Menzies
Robert Menzies (actor)
Robert Menzies, an Australian television actor, has starred in productions such as 3 Acts of Murder, Three Dollars and Monash and The Anzac Legend....
, and Angie Milliken
Angie Milliken
-Career:Milliken first became noticed when she starred in the 1991 made-for-TV movie Act of Necessity for which she was nominated for an Australian Film Institute Award....
.
Hong Kong
In 2004, Theatre de R&D staged Betrayals Cantonese version as the first production of this theatrical group. With the script translated to Chinese by Lucretia Ho, this production was directed by Yankov Wong, staring Lucretie Ho as Emma, Johnny Tan as Jerry, Karl Lee as Robert, and Kenneth Cheung as the Waiter.A reader's theatre
Reader's Theatre
Reader's theatre is a style of theatre in which the actors do not memorize their lines. Rather, they either go through their blocking holding scripts and reading off their lines, or else sit/stand together on a stage and read through the script together...
format of Betrayal was producted by the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre and directed by Yankov Wong on 6 March 2010.
In September 2010, theatrical group We Draman put the show on stage with a translated script by Cancer Chong, featuring renowned stage actress Alice Lau as Emma.
Italy
In 2009 Italian Actor and Director Andrea Renzi brought the play to life in Italy. Famed Italian actress Nicoletta BraschiNicoletta Braschi
Nicoletta Braschi is an Italian actress and producer, best known for her work with her husband, actor and director Roberto Benigni....
stars as Emma. Tony Laudadio plays the character of Robert. Enrico Ianniello plays the part of Jerry. Nicola Marchi plays the part of a waiter. The play has been very successful and has been touring in Italy for over two years and will return again in early 2012 with the same cast.
Adaptations
Pinter adapted Betrayal as a screenplay for the 1983 film directed by David JonesDavid Jones (director)
David Hugh Jones was a British stage, television, and film director.-Personal history:Jones was born in Poole, Dorset, the son of John David Jones and his wife Gwendolen Agnes Langworthy...
, starring Jeremy Irons
Jeremy Irons
Jeremy John Irons is an English actor. After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969, and has since appeared in many London theatre productions including The Winter's Tale, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the...
(Jerry), Ben Kingsley
Ben Kingsley
Sir Ben Kingsley, CBE is a British actor. He has won an Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards in his career. He is known for starring as Mohandas Gandhi in the film Gandhi in 1982, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor...
(Robert), and Patricia Hodge
Patricia Hodge
Patricia Ann Hodge is an English actor.-Early life:The daughter of the Royal Hotel owner/manager Eric and his wife Marion , Hodge attended Wintringham Girls' Grammar School on Weelsby Avenue in Grimsby and then St...
(Emma).
Autobiographical inspiration
Betrayal was inspired by Pinter's seven-year affair with television presenter Joan Bakewell, who was married to the producer and director Michael BakewellMichael Bakewell
Michael Bakewell is a British television producer. He is best known for his work during the 1960s, when he was the first Head of Plays at the BBC after Sydney Newman divided the drama department into separate series, serials and plays divisions in 1963...
, while Pinter was married to actress Vivien Merchant
Vivien Merchant
Vivien Merchant was a British actress.-Career:Merchant performed in many stage productions and several films, including Alfie and Frenzy...
. The affair was known in some circles; when Betrayal premiered on stage in 1978, Lord Longford (father of Antonia Fraser
Antonia Fraser
Lady Antonia Margaret Caroline Fraser, DBE , née Pakenham, is an Anglo-Irish author of history, novels, biographies and detective fiction, best known as Antonia Fraser...
), who was in the audience, commented that Emma appeared to be based on Joan Bakewell; but the affair only became public knowledge after it was confirmed by Pinter in Billington's 1996 authorised biography, which was further confirmed in Joan Bakewell's later memoir The Centre of the Bed.
A program note about the author accompanying productions of the play, stating that he "has lived [with] Antonia Fraser
Antonia Fraser
Lady Antonia Margaret Caroline Fraser, DBE , née Pakenham, is an Anglo-Irish author of history, novels, biographies and detective fiction, best known as Antonia Fraser...
" for "five years, when the play was first produced and published in 1978, led some to assume that the play was based on their relationship; thus, the biographical context for the play was (mis)attributed to Pinter's affair with Lady Antonia Fraser, which occurred from 1975 to 1980, while he was still married to Vivien Merchant
Vivien Merchant
Vivien Merchant was a British actress.-Career:Merchant performed in many stage productions and several films, including Alfie and Frenzy...
. Pinter married Antonia Fraser in 1980, after the Frasers' divorce (1977) and the Pinters' divorce (1980) became final (Billington 253–54).
In the mid 1990s, Pinter explained to his official authorised biographer Michael Billington
Michael Billington (critic)
Michael Keith Billington is a British author and arts critic. Drama critic of The Guardian since October 1971, he is "Britain's longest-serving theatre critic" and the author of biographical and critical studies relating to British theatre and the arts; most notably, he is the authorised...
that, although he wrote the play while "otherwise engaged" with Fraser, he actually based some details of the play on the clandestine affair which he conducted from 1962 to 1969 with BBC Television presenter Joan Bakewell.
Cultural allusions
"The BetrayalThe Betrayal
"The Betrayal" is the 164th episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld. This was the eighth episode for the ninth and final season. It aired on November 20, 1997. The episode is colloquially referred to as The Backwards Episode due to its use of reverse chronology, starting with the final scene and playing...
" (1997), episode 8 of the 9th (final) season of the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
Television series Seinfeld
Seinfeld
Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
(Sony Pictures), alludes overtly to Pinter's play and film Betrayal, which appears to have inspired it. Apart from the title, "The Betrayal", and the name of one-off character Pinter Ranawat who appears in the episode, the episode is structured and runs in reverse chronological order and also features love triangles as one of its central themes. According to Kent Yoder, all of these allusions were deliberate.
Works cited
"The Betrayal". Episode Guide for SeinfeldSeinfeld
Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
. Sony Pictures, 2009. World Wide Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
. 11 Mar. 2009. (Includes a video clip
Video clip
Video clips are short clips of video, usually part of a longer recording. The term is also more loosely used to mean any short video less than the length of a traditional television program.- On the Internet :...
.)
Bakewell, Joan. The Centre of the Bed. London: Hodder & Stoughton
Hodder & Stoughton
Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette.-History:The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged fourteen, with Messrs Jackson and Walford, the official publisher for the Congregational Union...
, 2003. ISBN 0340823100 (10). ISBN 9780340823101 (13). Print.
Billington, Michael
Michael Billington (critic)
Michael Keith Billington is a British author and arts critic. Drama critic of The Guardian since October 1971, he is "Britain's longest-serving theatre critic" and the author of biographical and critical studies relating to British theatre and the arts; most notably, he is the authorised...
. Harold Pinter. Rev. and expanded ed. 1996. London: Faber and Faber
Faber and Faber
Faber and Faber Limited, often abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in the UK, notable in particular for publishing a great deal of poetry and for its former editor T. S. Eliot. Faber has a rich tradition of publishing a wide range of fiction, non fiction, drama, film and music...
, 2007. Print.
Bryden, Mary. Rev. of Betrayal (One from the Heart at The Camberley Theatre
Camberley Theatre
The Camberley Theatre is a theatre in the town of Camberley, Surrey. The theatre is owned and managed by Surrey Heath Borough Council and the venue offers a variety of arts and entertainment....
, February 2002). 204–06 in "The Caretaker and Betrayal. The Pinter Review: Collected Essays 2003 and 2004. Ed. Francis Gillen and Steven H. Gale. Tampa: U of Tampa P, 2004. 202–06. ISBN 1879852179 (10). ISBN 9781879852174 (13). Print.
Canby, Vincent
Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby was an American film critic who became the chief film critic for The New York Times in 1969 and reviewed more than 1000 films during his tenure there.-Life and career:...
. "Movie Review: Betrayal (1983): Pinter's 'Betrayal,' Directed by David Jones". New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Movies. New York Times Company
The New York Times Company
The New York Times Company is an American media company best known as the publisher of its namesake, The New York Times. Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr. has served as Chairman of the Board since 1997. It is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City....
, 20 Feb. 1983. Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
. 11 Mar. 2009.
Ebert, Roger
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
. "Movies: 'Betrayal' ". Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
18 Mar. 1983. RogerEbert.com, 2009. Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
. 11 Mar. 2009.
Lawson, Mark
Mark Lawson
Mark Gerard Lawson is an English journalist, broadcaster and author.-Life and career:Born in Hendon, London, Lawson was raised in Yorkshire and is a Leeds United fan. He was educated at St Columba's College in St Albans and took a degree in English at University College London, where his lecturers...
. "Prodigal Son". Guardian.co.uk
Guardian.co.uk
guardian.co.uk, formerly known as Guardian Unlimited, is a British website owned by the Guardian Media Group. Georgina Henry is the editor...
. Guardian Media Group
Guardian Media Group
Guardian Media Group plc is a company of the United Kingdom owning various mass media operations including The Guardian and The Observer. The Group is owned by the Scott Trust. It was founded as the Manchester Guardian Ltd in 1907 when C. P. Scott bought the Manchester Guardian from the estate of...
, 31 May 2007. Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
. 11 Mar. 2009.
Merritt, Susan Hollis. "Betrayal in Denver" (Denver Center Theatre Company, Denver Center for the Performing Arts
Denver Center for the Performing Arts
The Denver Center for the Performing Arts ' is an organization in Denver, Colorado which provides a showcase for live theatre, a nurturing ground for new plays, a preferred stop on the Broadway touring circuit, a graduate-level training school for actors, acting classes for the community and rental...
, Denver, CO. 29 May 2002). The Pinter Review: Collected Essays 2003 and 2004. Ed. Francis Gillen and Steven H. Gale. Tampa: U of Tampa P, 2004. 187–201. ISBN 1879852179 (10). ISBN 9781879852174 (13). Print.
Pinter, Harold
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
. Betrayal. 1978. New York: Grove Press
Grove Press
Grove Press is an American publishing imprint that was founded in 1951. Imprints include: Black Cat, Evergreen, Venus Library, Zebra. Barney Rosset purchased the company in 1951 and turned it into an alternative book press in the United States. The Atlantic Monthly Press, under the aegis of its...
, 1979. ISBN 0394505255 (10). ISBN 9780394505251 (13). ISBN 0394170849 (10). ISBN 9780394170848 (13). Print. (Parenthetical references in the text are to this edition, ISBN 0394170849. Pinter indicates pauses by three spaced dots of ellipsis; editorial ellipses herein are unspaced and within brackets.)
Quigley, Austin E.
Austin E. Quigley
Austin Edmund Quigley was Dean of Columbia College of Columbia University, Lucy G. Moses Professor, and Brander Matthews Professor of Dramatic Literature at Columbia University, in New York City, and the recipient of the 2008 Alexander Hamilton Medal, Columbia College's highest honor...
. "Pinter: Betrayal". Chapter 11 of The Modern Stage and Other Worlds. New York: Methuen, 1985. 221–52. ISBN 0416393209 (10). ISBN 9780416393200 (13). Print. Chapter 11: "Pinter: Betrayal" in Limited preview at Google Books (omits some pages). Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
. 11 Mar. 2009.
External links
- Betrayal at HaroldPinter.org (Includes "Selected foreign productions".)