ON STAGE
What: Betrayal
Where:
When: June 1-6
Tickets: $25-$40 from
The elements of a theatre performance are set in stone months ahead of opening night, which makes it difficult for producers to adjust at the last minute.
So while the province on Tuesday introduced a staged restart plan that will 鈥� sooner than later 鈥� allow audiences to return to in-person theatre performances, the news did not arrive in time for Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre to redesign its upcoming production for live audiences next week.
Betrayal, the second of Blue Bridge鈥檚 four offerings for the upcoming summer season, will remain a livestreamed production for its eight performances streamed from the Roxy Theatre on Quadra Street starting Tuesday.
鈥淯nfortunately, I can鈥檛 see a way that we can bring this out to a live audience, because of the timing,鈥� said Brian Richmond, who is directing. 鈥淲e have to be rehearsing the next show [Salt-Water Moon] coming up after this one. But we will certainly be returning to live performances [on July 6].鈥�
Richmond still likes what Blue Bridge has in store for its multi-camera livestream of Betrayal, the critically adored drama by Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter, who died in 2008. Richmond will have his hands full directing an impressive cast 鈥� featuring Amanda Lisman, Tim Machin, Anthony Santiago and Jacob Richmond 鈥� through Pinter鈥檚 time-shifting play, which is told in reverse chronological order.
Its time-flipping pace was revolutionary when it premi猫red in 1978, and it has been loosely adapted several times to great effect in the years since, including in movies such as Christopher Nolan鈥檚 Memento.
But few stage or screen offerings that share Betrayal鈥檚 non-linear timeline can match the original鈥檚 searing, semi-autobiographical narrative about the impact of a married woman鈥檚 affair with her husband鈥檚 friend.
鈥淭he play is absolutely brilliant,鈥� Richmond said. 鈥淧inter is a genius. It鈥檚 a fascinating play, the way it鈥檚 constructed.鈥�
Richmond has been involved with roughly 150 stage productions during his four-decade career, but had no prior experience with Betrayal. He directed another Pinter masterwork, Old Times, for Halifax鈥檚 Neptune Theatre in 2007, and Blue Bridge staged a production of Pinter鈥檚 The Caretaker in 2017, to great response from audiences, but Betrayal will be a rare kick at the Pinter can for Blue Bridge.
Richmond said he decided early on that he would remain faithful to two hallmarks of Pinter鈥檚 work: his language and pauses. 鈥淗e is so precise with his words. Every one is carefully chosen. He鈥檚 very famous for 鈥榯he Pinter pause,鈥� but as we found out, he鈥檚 famous for the Pinter silences, too.
鈥淚 pay a lot of attention to the punctuation of playwrights all the time. To me, the punctuation is the musical notation of the script. In Pinter, it鈥檚 absolutely vital to follow that and discover what is meant by those pauses and those silences.鈥�
Betrayal has a long and illustrious history, with an impact that extends well beyond the stage. In addition to several Tony-nominated Broadway productions, which have starred actors Juliette Binoche, Liev Schreiber, Blythe Danner and Tom Hiddleston, Betrayal has been adapted for both TV (in a 1997 episode of Seinfeld named The Betrayal, Jerry sleeps with George鈥檚 girlfriend) and film (the 1983 movie starring Jeremy Irons and Ben Kingsley earned Pinter an Oscar nomination for his script).
It鈥檚 unfortunate audiences won鈥檛 be able to see a play of this quality in person, Richmond said.
But he鈥檚 eager to see what the local landscape looks like in the weeks to come, as the province begins to reopen.
鈥淚 often think of the generation that preceded me, people that lived through the Second World War. I鈥檓 old enough to remember the outpouring in the 1950s, and how we celebrated colour at that point in time, and how that led into the cultural revolution of the 鈥�60s.
鈥淚 kind of think that鈥檚 what we are headed toward. I think that whenever a society has been held down and held back, people will start to celebrate. In the end, that鈥檚 what theatre is all about 鈥� public interaction. We鈥檝e been deprived of that for a year and a half, and I suspect we are going to realize how important this was to us.鈥�
