Theatres - Comedy

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Betrayal ( Comedy ) - Play

Ian Rickson's new production of Harold Pinter's Betrayal starring Kristin Scott Thomas, Douglas Henshall and Ben Miles and produced by Sonia Friedman Productions. 'I've always rather liked Jerry. To be honest, I've always liked him rather more than I've liked you. Maybe I should have had an affair with him myself.' Betrayal is a play written by Harold Pinter in 1978. Critically regarded as one of the English playwright's major dramatic works, it features his characteristically economical dialogue, characters' hidden emotions and veiled motivations, and their self-absorbed competitive one-upmanship, face-saving, dishonesty, and (self) deceptions. The plot of Betrayal exposes different permutations of betrayal and kinds of betrayals occurring over a period of nine years, relating to a seven-year affair involving a married couple, Emma and Robert, and Robert's "close friend" Jerry, who is also married, to a woman named Judith. Born in 1930 in East London, playwright, screen writer, director, political activist and actor Harold Pinter wrote thirty-two plays, twenty-two screenplays and directed thirty-six theatre productions. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005, and was awarded the Companion of Honour in 2002. His many awards include the Laurence Olivier Award and the Moliere D'Honneur for Lifetime Achievement, the European Theatre Award and the Legion d'Honneur.

Comedy

Panton Street
London SW1Y 4DN

Nearest Tube: Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, Charing Cross
Nearest Bus Stop: 14, 19, 24, 29, 38, 176

The Royal Comedy Theatre, as it was then known, opened on 15 October 1881. The theatre's reputation grew through the First World War when C.B. Cochran and AndrÃ© Charlot presented their famous review shows.

The range of work at the Comedy Theatre has been far reaching, from musical comedies to revival and experimental theatre and includes hugely successful shows such as Savages starring Paul Scofield in 1973 and The Rocky Horror Show making its West End debut in 1979. Alan Bennett has appeared with Patricia Routledge in his Talking Heads and Stockard Channing appeared in Six Degrees of Separation, which won best play at the 1993 Olivier Awards. No history of the Comedy Theatre would be complete without reference to Harold Pinter. The Homecoming, No-man's Land, Moonlight, The Hothouse and The Caretaker have all been presented in recent years.

Maureen Lipman has also graced the Comedy stage starring in Alan Plater's highly acclaimed comedy, Peggy For You, but The Comedy's two biggest successes must be The Caretaker starring Michael Gambon in 2000 and an eight week sell out of Little Malcolm and his Struggle Against the Eunuchs in 1999, starring Ewan McGregor and directed by Denis Lawson, which smashed all box office records.