Betrayal (play)
Betrayal is a play written by Harold Pinter in 1978. The play deals with an affair that entangles a married couple, Emma and Robert, and their close friend Jerry. The play is unusual for its reversed timeline (though not unique, see Merrily We Roll Along); the first scene in the play takes place after the lovers' affair has been dissolved.
It was first produced by the National Theatre in London on November 15th, 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. Later, it opened on Broadway on January 5, 1980 with Raul Julia as Jerry, Blythe Danner as Emma, and Roy Scheider as Robert.
Unlike the majority of Pinter's previous works, Betrayal does not fall under the theatre of the absurd, but rather revolves around real characters in realistic circumstances. Regardless of being so fundamentally different in method, Betrayal is regarded as one of Pinter's classics.
Due to a program note about the author accompanying productions of the play, stating that he "has lived Antonia Fraser" for "five years"), the biographical context for the play has been attributed erroneously to Pinter's affair with Lady Antonia Fraser, which occurred from 1975 to 1980, while he was still married to Vivien Merchant and whom he married in 1980, after the Frasers divorce (1977) and his divorce from Merchant (1980) became final. But, in actuality, Pinter explained to his official biographer, Michael Billington, that the play was based on an affair he had in 1962-69 with television presenter Joan Bakewell, who was married to producer and director Michael Bakewell at the time.
There has been a 1983 film version of the play starring Jeremy Irons and Ben Kingsley as well as a 2000 off-Broadway production at the Roundabout Theatre with Juliette Binoche, Liev Schreiber, and John Slattery. In addition, the comedy Seinfeld made an episode as an homage to this play. The episode was entitled "The Betrayal," went backwards through time, and even had a character named "Pinter."
The 2000 motion picture Memento uses a similar backward flashback timeline. This point is discussed by the director, Christopher Nolan, in the supplementary materials available on the DVD.