Tom Hiddleston speaks on a panel during the second day of MCM Comic Con at the ExCel London in east London. Picture date: Saturday October 23, 2021. (Photos by Aaron Chown/PA Images via Getty Images)
Category: Roles
Though the official Press Night doesn’t happen until tomorrow (Wednesday, 13 March), some of those who have attended preview shows have blogged or posted their own reviews of Betrayal.
Below is a listing, with some quotes highlighted, and links to the full reviews.
This page will be updated as more reviews come in. ‘Official’ reviews will be posted on a separate page.
Warning: the reviews may contain spoilers
Janet Hitchen (Love a Good Play), 8 March 2019
The stage design is exceptional in its simplicity and what it allows to unfold. The double revolve on the stage and the use of shadow is sublime — I was trasfixed by it for a lot of the show. Absolutely beautiful. It’s going to take a lot to top that this year.
Our three actors are superb and are all equally balanced in their performances. I particularly liked Zawe Ashton’s incredibly subtle performance of Emma and her unhappiness and sorrow.
5/5 Beautiful sorrow.
https://medium.com/love-a-good-play/pinter-betrayal-82aa61144740
Time Out London (comment), Hannah G, 8 March 2019
Well that was intense. Ironically for Pinter, this was a breathless almost breakneck experience. Not a wasted second in a stripped back production. Hiddleston was immense. May as well make space on his awards shelf now. I have never rated him highly on screen but as in Corialanus, he is an irresistable and charismatic force on the stage.
https://www.timeout.com/london/theatre/betrayal-2
Diary of a Londoness (Scarlett), 8 March 2019
Tom Hiddleston is clearly a really nice guy. He’s on-stage for a straight 90 minutes in Harold Pinter’s 1978 classic, Betrayal, and follows with autograph signing and selfie-taking with the hordes of fans who wait for him at the Harold Pinter Theatre stage door. So, it’s with a heavy heart than I tell you that I didn’t really like Betrayal. There’s some fine acting, but it’s all a bit of a yawn.
https://www.diaryofalondoness.com/review-betrayal-harold-pinter-theatre/
Rev Stan’s Theatre blog, 9 March 2019
You need the laughs because it reminds you to breathe.
Hiddleston, Ashton and Cox deliver precise, layered performances in a production that grips with tension. I think Lloyd has saved the best to last in his Pinter at the Pinter season.
[…]
I’m giving it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
https://theatre.revstan.com/2019/03/review-tom-hiddleston-charlie-cox-and-zawe-ashton-in-betrayal-harold-pinter-theatre.html#more
It’s 90 minutes without interval and the pace is languid, performed well and full of the stylistic elements that Pinter lovers will enjoy. We’re in row 8 and the most effective emotional moment occurs when the previously stiff Hiddleston’s eyes glisten with tears we can see clearly. It’s perhaps a betrayal of how he really feels without ever otherwise letting on.
https://monstagigz.com/2019/03/09/theatre-review-betrayed-starring-tom-hiddleston-zawe-ashton-at-the-harold-pinter-theatre/#more-11412
Maryam Philpott, 11 March 2019
As a finale to the Pinter at the Pinter season, this couldn’t be better, gripping, full of meaning and so very moving. You’ll need a walk home or have a quiet sit down afterwards to properly process it. Betrayal is the kind of play that stirs the feelings, unsettling and savage at times, but also sad and beautiful. With three exceptional performances full of complexity and feeling, innovative direction that enhances the themes of the play and an intensity that grips you entirely, Betrayal is everything you could hope for. The Pinter at the Pinter season has set a very high standard for itself, but what a swansong this has turned out to be.
https://maryamphilpottblog.wordpress.com/2019/03/11/betrayal-harold-pinter-theatre/
Emma Raczkowski, Proscenium Dreams, 13 March 2019
Delivery is key in Pinter plays: Tom Hiddleston was a particular stand-out in this regard, most evidently so in the scene where his character Robert and Zawe Ashton’s Emma are on holiday in Italy. Again the dialogue is short but it’s the ‘Pinter pause’ which is most effective here – placed for dramatic effect, you can hear Robert’s heart breaking in that pause before he asks his wife whether they should go to Torcello the following day.
https://prosceniumdreams.wordpress.com/2019/03/13/betrayal-harold-pinter-theatre-review-tom-hiddleston/
The Geek Goddesses, 14 March 2019
Hiddleston for his part has never been better. Never has that beaming smile seemed more like a shark’s as he circles Jerry at the beginning, aware of the depths of his betrayal and hiding his anger, pain and simmering resentment behind a cold, cold grin and a blaze attitude.
https://thegeekgoddesses.com/2019/03/14/theatre-review-tom-hiddleston-in-betrayal/
Lucy Brooks, CultureWhisper, 14 March 2019
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
In Jamie Lloyd’s immaculate revival, the Pinterian power struggles, loaded pauses and repressed meanings feel archly of the moment. And the three accomplished actors, led by a superb Tom Hiddleston, capture every agonising and exhilarating cadence of the central love triangle.
https://www.culturewhisper.com/r/theatre/betrayal_tom_hiddleston_theatre_harold_pinter/12652
Yes, you read that correctly.
As part of this year’s Red Nose Day campaign to support Comic Relief, you now have the chance for tickets to Betrayal. Sounds great, right?
But wait, there’s more! After the show, you’ll be treated to post-theatre drinks and nibbles with the man himself.
Yes. This is not a drill.
According to the Comic Relief web page:
Your chance to hang out with Tom Hiddleston in the flesh *faints* – and tickets to watch his incredible performance in the sold out West End hit play, Betrayal.Tom Hiddleston would like to invite you to the sold-out production of Betrayal by Harold Pinter on the 27 May. You’ll be met at the theatre, treated like a star, and taken to the exclusive Ambassador Lounge for pre-show drinks. You’ll then be given two precious house seats to watch one of the most anticipated shows of the year. When the show is over, you’ll join the star of the show, Golden Globe and Olivier Award winner, Tom Hiddleston for drinks and snacks in the bar. The hottest ticket in town – followed by some private time with the star of the show. You will be hard pushed to find a more sensational night out in London’s glittering West End.
Comic Relief Prizeathon page
Drinks with Tom? Sign me up.
For full information, terms and conditions AND TO ACTUALLY ENTER THE RAFFLE, go to the Comic Relief PRIZEATHON page here.
Rehearsals for the Jamie Lloyd Co production of Betrayal, which opens March 5th, just got under way last week, and now the Evening Standard has some behind-the-scenes rehearsal pics.
And they’re fantastic.
Tom Hiddleston in rehearsal for ‘Betrayal’. Photo © Marc Brenner/Evening Standard 2019
Calling it Tom Hiddleston’s ‘much anticipated return to the stage’, the pictures feature Tom as Robert, Zawe Ashton as Emma, and Charlie Cox as Jerry, in what is considered Pinter’s masterpiece — as well as a roman à clef about his own affair with Joan Bakewell.
The full gallery of rehearsal pics is here:
Above photos © 2019 Marc Brenner/Evening Standard
Hiddles Hub 