Harold Pinter is a master of making the ordinary extraordinary: he writes about everyday events in simple language that conveys powerful emotions and poignant comments on human experience.

It takes an extremely good cast under insightful direction to realise the playwright’s brilliance, and Geordie Brookman has done superbly to bring together a talented team to create this memorable performance. State Theatre Company’s Betrayal is exceptionally good theatre.

Pinter is famous for including pauses in his writing and they are essential if the staging is to be effective. His writing has a musicality, and actors Nathan O’Keefe, Alison Bell and Mark Saturno know how to hold and sustain an effective moment.

There are absolutely spellbinding and compelling scenes throughout this production. The characters are drawn with compassion and understanding. and they are played with precision and intensity. There are also plenty of laughs to be had – such is the genius of Pinter (and this creative team).

The set design is impressive: Geoff Cobham (who this week won a Helpmann Award for his scenic design on Little Bird) has half the stage encircled with strips of material, like vertical venetians, with minimal furniture required centre-stage to denote a scene. Circular clothing racks revolve during scene changes. The lighting is picturesque throughout, not only creating a Jeffrey Smart-like image during scenes but also highlighting significant clothing and furniture in scene changes.

Alison Bell as Emma. Photo: Shane Reid

Betrayal is about the fear that most people have in relationships – that their partners will be unfaithful. In his play, Pinter begins at the end, with former lovers, Jerry and Emma, catching up to have a few drinks. O’Keefe and Bell capture the awkward, tense atmosphere in the opening seconds: they savour Pinter’s words and, although they seem to be making small talk, they convincingly convey the pain, anguish and tenderness of a couple who have had a seven-year affair.

In the next scene, we witness Jerry and Emma’s husband, Robert (Saturno), discussing the fact that Robert knows about the affair.  The drama is made more complex because Jerry and Robert are best friends: they are in the writing and publishing game and their underlying rivalry for Emma is reflected in invitations to do combat on the squash court. The words may seemingly be innocuous or insignificant, but each phrase is carefully chosen and conveys a deeper meaning.

Betrayal proceeds in reverse chronological order until the final scene, which depicts the moment when Jerry and Emma began their affair. This reversal of events means that, knowing how it is all going to end, we perceive the beginning in a different way and so the final scene shows a human event filled with love and excitement but tainted with destruction and loss. It is a powerful and lasting theatrical experience.

Because we are seeing scenes in reverse order, numerous objects take on a deeper significance and references to other characters have more impact when we hear their names again. It is a classic use of irony in the audience knowing more than the characters.

Pinter – and the performers – prevent there being any element of soap opera: there are plenty of moments when the characters and we can reflect on the situation and our own lives and relationships. Ordinary, everyday language is used to skirt around the central theme of adultery, and at the same time these ordinary conversations strike at the heart of what is driving each individual.

State Theatre Company’s production of Harold Pinter’s Betrayal is an exceptional performance staged by a wonderful cast and crew: it is a brilliant introduction to Pinter (and the absurdists), and a very satisfying event for experienced theatregoers.

The State Theatre Company of SA is presenting Harold Pinter’s Betrayal at the Dunstan Playhouse until August 15.

 Read InDaily’s interview with Nathan O’Keefe here.