Zomergast minister Plasterk koos als afsluiting van de late zondagavond voor de film Betrayal. Een prima keus. Meer een toneelstuk dan een film en dat klopt, want Betrayal uit 1983 is de verfilming van een toneelstuk van Harold Pinter. Via de scenes, die elkaar in omgekeerde volgorde opvolgen, volgen we de drie personages terug in de tijd over een periode van zeven jaar. Zo volgen we het overspel terug naar de bron. Niet van kwaad tot erger, maar van erger tot kwaad. De laatste scene uit de film is dus het begin van het overspel. Pinter‘s screenplay voor de film werd in 1983 genomineerd voor een Academy Award for “Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium” In deze verfilming worden de drie hoofdrollen gespeeld door Jeremy Irons, Ben Kingsley en Patricia Hodge.
Scene 1. 1977, Pub. Noon.
Jerry discovers Emma has told her husband, Robert, about their 7-year affair, even though it ended two years earlier.
Scene 2. Later, Jerry’s House. Study. Spring
Jerry effortfully apologizes to Robert only for Robert to reveal he’s known about the affair “for years.” Jerry is now the one who feels betrayed.
Scene 3. 1975, Flat. Winter
Emma and Robert decide to give up the flat they have rented for their afternoon assignations, thereby ending the affair.
Scene 4. 1974, Robert and Emma’s House. Autumn.
Over a drink, Robert invites Jerry – with elaborate hidden aggression – to play squash with him, purposefully excluding his wife.
Scene 5. 1973, Hotel. Venice. Summer
Robert confronts Emma with a letter she’s received from Jerry. She admits they have been lovers for five years. The betrayal is deepened because Jerry, we learn, was best man at their wedding.
Scene 6. Later, Flat. Summer
Before they make love, Jerry asks Emma about her trip to Venice. She does not tell him about Robert’s discovery.
Scene 7. Later, Restaurant. Summer
Robert lunches with Jerry, drinking heavily as he tells Jerry about his trip to Venice. He insists he was particularly happy on what we know is the day he discovered the affair. (His own private victory.)
Scene 8. 1971, Flat. Summer
Emma reveals she ran into Jerry’s wife. He dismisses the idea that she is having an affair of her own. Emma reveals she is pregnant by her husband, conceived while Jerry was away.
Scene 9. 1968, Robert and Emma’s House. Bedroom. Winter
While alone at a party, Jerry drunkenly declares his feelings for Emma. She tells Robert, “Your best friend is drunk.” He agrees good-naturedly and leaves. She tries to follow, but Jerry clasps her arm and she stops.
Betrayal was first produced by the National Theatre in London on November 15, 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. Due to a program note about the author accompanying productions of the play, stating that he “has lived [with] 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. (Pinter married Antonia Fraser in 1980, after the Frasers’ divorce (1977) and the Pinters’ divorce (1980) became final.) In actuality, Pinter explained to his official biographer, Michael Billington, the play is based on an affair he had in 1962-69 with television presenter Joan Bakewell, who was married to producer and director Michael Bakewell at that time.
