The riveting story of an affair with consequences is being presented by Chicago Street Theatre in Valparaiso.
Winning widespread critical acclaim, “Betrayal” will run Feb. 23 through Feb. 26.
Nabbing the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for “Best Foreign Play,” Harold Pinter’s 1978 literary gem deals with the so-called eternal triangle of wife, husband and wife’s lover.
The deftly written drama unfurls in reverse chronology.
At the center is the adulterous affair of Emma and Jerry. The illicit hookup stems from Emma’s rocky marriage to Robert, and her need for a friendly ear. And Jerry is Robert’s best friend.
“Tracking the characters’ lives in reverse is what’s quite interesting because of the truths and half-truths that are revealed,” director George Maslankowski said. “In the reverse telling, you’re told truths that turn out to be lies.”
Designed for mature audiences, “Betrayal” glides backward in time, from the demise of the Emma-Jerry affair to its birth.
“It’s a very poignant portrayal of human desires, and the way intimacy can affect how we tell each other the truth, and what truths we tell each other,” Maslankowski, a LaPorte resident, said.
“Betrayal” also is a chronicle of “what truths we try not to become aware of,” Maslankowski said.
The subtlety in “little” lies and oblique remarks “reveal more than direct statements or overt actions ever could,” according to promotional material from the theater troupe.
“It’s a lot about what isn’t said, as opposed to what is,” said Barbara Baker Malangoni, who portrays Emma.
Malangoni said she believes she is portraying a sympathetic character.
“I don’t think that the audience would look at her and say, ‘what a terrible person for doing this,'” Malangoni said, pointing to the presence of “some emptiness that the affair fills.”
The play ripples with underlying tensions and suppressed expressions of true feelings.
“It’s all in the subtext that you could see her unfulfillment,” the Valparaiso actress said of her character. “I don’t think her husband is a terribly nice person to her.”
Malangoni also is “not really sure her lover is particularly nice to her either,” even though he is not overtly mean.
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Smartly paced with enticing nuances, “Betrayal” is a slice of community theater with a twist.
Malangoni said Chicago Street Theatre has always taken pride in executing “more edgy stories.”
Having snared London’s West End Award for its theatrical excellence, “Betrayal” ranks as an adventuresome production for a company such as Chicago Street Theatre.
“We want people to experience art, live art,” Malangoni said. “Live art should challenge you. It should be enlightenment, education and entertainment. And I think that we really strive to fulfill that.”
The performances of “Betrayal” will take place in the intimate Edith B. Wood Studio Theatre, which is on the second floor of Chicago Street Theatre, with access only by stairs.
Maslankowski said the play is set in England, so performers will use British accents as they ply their craft in the small studio area.
“The movement is somewhat limited, and it comes down to the actors to bring out the intensity of the characters,” the director said.
“Betrayal” is set in the era of 1968 to 1977.
Although Jerry and Emma carry on a lengthy romance, it is revealed in the course of the play — through reminiscences — that Robert knew of the cheating all along, and, to Jerry’s dismay, treated it with nonchalance, according to a synopsis from Chicago Street Theatre.
Bob Kostanczuk is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
‘Betrayal’
Where: Chicago Street Theatre, 154 W. Chicago St., Valparaiso
When: 8 p.m. Feb. 23 through Feb. 25; 2:30 p.m. Feb. 26
Tickets: $12 adults; $10 students, senior citizens, military
Information: 219-464-1636, ext. 1; www.ChicagoStreet.org