Betrayal

Catchy title, no? It's the Pinter play I saw tonight at ATL. I've read a little Pinter in the past, but I'm not really familiar with his work or his style, and I thought this script was amazing. (If you're unfamiliar, Betrayal takes place from 1977-1968, mostly in reverse order, though when necessary the scenes happen in forward time. Instead of wondering what's going to happen to these characters you've grown to care about through the course of the play, you wonder what has happened to bring them to the point they've reached, to make them who they are. A very cool concept.) Additionally, I thought the acting in the production I saw was brilliant (Barbara Gulan, Rex Young, Stephen Webber, and Fred Major as "A Waiter"). I've never experienced longer, more appropriately uncomfortable silences that were so effective. Every accent, every inflection was perfectly placed also. Well done!

The play was stage managed by my dear friend Deb Freeman who, though she reserved my tickets for me, has been so busy I haven't seen her since October! The lighting was good--pretty subtle--the transitions involved the large crew striking and setting numerous furniture pieces as well as smaller props which looked good shadowed against the RP screen even if the furniture changes seemed unnecessary given the unrealistic and open nature of the rest of the set (and the power of the script and the cast). The sound didn't really do anything for me--the transition music seemed to interrupt the flow and take me out of the world of the play rather than propel the story. The projections were interesting, and they made sense at the end when the picture zoomed out and was no longer pixilated, but when you realize what the image is on the screen, it's too obvious, almost cheesey. Though, the other projections--the year and location of each scene--were helpful, though in retrospect, not entirely necessary as the audience is probably bright enough to figure out the timeline on their own.

Stay tuned--I'm planning to see Bill McNulty's one-man show in the VJ before it closes this weekend, and I have the choreographers' showcase this weekend as well.

Cheers!