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Title: Betrayal by Harold Pinter ISBN: 0-8021-3080-1 Publisher: Grove Press Pub. Date: March, 1983 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.50 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.33 (6 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: One of Pinter's strongest plays, betrayal in all its forms
Comment: One of Harold Pinter's most ambitious undertakings, his 1978 play BETRAYAL ranks among his finest works. Often called a sly comedy of sexual manners, BETRAYAL encompasses much more than just adultery.
BETRAYAL has only three main characters (plus a waiter in a single scene). There is Jerry and Emma, who years before had an affair, and Emma's husband Robert, who happens to be Jerry's best friend and business partner. Pinter ingeniously has the play occur in reverse chronological order, so that it begins with a meeting between Jerry and Emma in 1977, years after their affair, and it ends with a shocking scene from 1968. The ending gives BETRAYAL a great deal of reread value, as one can go back through the play and apply the secret revealed in its final moments.
While adultery is the most evident theme of the play, it is about other forms of betrayal: how we betray our friends, betray our spouses by permitting them to break the bonds of marriage, and how our words and actions betray the secrets we strive to hide. Pinter's usual theme of the unknowability of our lifelong partners is even more strongly shown here than in other plays.
BETRAYAL is an excellent play for anyone who likes the work of Harold Pinter. Even if you became interested in the playwright's work through his late political plays like "The New World Order" and "Party Time", this more "traditional" work will excite.
Rating: 2
Summary: Been there, played that.
Comment: I performed Scene 8 from "Betrayal" in a theater class, and read the rest of the play in order to form a character analysis of Emma. I found the play intersting, but slightly odd. Some of the wording made no sense, and there were times when the references seemed out of place and just in there for laughs. The play itself was an old idea broadcast in a new way-backwards. It left me feeling bittersweet as I saw how it ended, and then saw how sweetly it started. I recommend the play for its difference in story telling, but I'm not so thrilled with it that I would insist you see a showing. It really seems to come down to the tastes of the person. This one wasn't really my taste.
Rating: 4
Summary: Almost too convincing
Comment: This play by Harold Pinter is about a three characters who are all cheating on each other. The most interesting aspect of this play is Pinter's technique of telling the story backwards. The audience comes in at the end of the affair. From that point the story basically proceeds back through time. The only problem I have with this play is that I don't like any of the characters. Jerry and Emma seem sleazy, and Robert is just a jerk. It makes it difficult to feel anything for the characters. This definitely does not ruin the play however. If you notice this playing at your local theatre, find time to go; you will have a great time.
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Title: Complete Works: One: The Birthday Party/the Room/the Dumb Waiter/a Slight Ache/a Night Out/the Black and White/the Examination by Harold Pinter ISBN: 0802150969 Publisher: Grove Press Pub. Date: November, 1990 List Price(USD): $14.50 |
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Title: The Caretaker and the Dumb Waiter by Harold Pinter ISBN: 080215087X Publisher: Grove Press Pub. Date: December, 1989 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: The Homecoming by Harold Pinter ISBN: 0802151051 Publisher: Grove Press Pub. Date: April, 1989 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Stones in His Pockets by Marie Jones, Mel Gussow ISBN: 1557834725 Publisher: Applause Books Pub. Date: April, 2001 List Price(USD): $8.95 |
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Title: Michael Caine - Acting in Film : An Actor's Take on Movie Making by Michael Caine ISBN: 1557832773 Publisher: Applause Books Pub. Date: 01 February, 2000 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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