The ‘Betrayal’ stars will be among the presenters at the Royal Albert Hall on 7 April
The Olivier Awards – toasting the best in British theatre – has announced its host and presenters for this year’s ceremony… and the stars of Betrayal will be there!
A video was posted on the awards’ Twitter account on Friday, announcing the presenters for this year’s awards. It’s a star-studded list, including Sally Field, Bill Pullman, Kelsey Grammer, Paapa Essiedu, Danny Dyer and Gloria Estefan.
We borrowed the Magic Carpet to fly in a host of big names who will be at the #OlivierAwards 2019 with @MastercardUK 🤩
Nominees include Gillian Anderson, Sir Ian McKellen, David Suchet, Vanessa Redgrave, Sophie Okonedo, and directors Sam Mendes and Stephen Daldry.
The awards will take place on Sunday, 7 April 2019, beginning at 6:30 pm BST. The ceremony will take place at the Royal Albert Hall, and will be broadcast on ITV. Jason Manaford will host.
On March 13th, Harold Pinter’s most famous full-length play “Betrayal” celebrated its premiere. It’s the story of cheating and being cheated, a story based on an episode from Pinter’s own life, his seven-year-long affair with the British TV Journalist Joan Bakewell. “Betrayal” marks the star-studded end of Jamie Lloyds “Pinter at the Pinter” season to celebrate the 10th year of Harold Pinter’s death.
In order to bring this triangle to the stage, the Jamie Lloyd Company cast three well-known and exceptionally talented actors. First and foremost Tom Hiddleston (best known as Marvel’s villain Loki and Golden Globe winner for “The Night Manager”) as Robert, at his side Charlie Cox (Marvel’s “Daredevil”) as Jerry and Zawe Ashton (“Fresh Meat”, “Velvet Buzzshaw”) as Emma.
A woman between two men, one is her husband, the other one her lover, both men are best friends. At first glance, this plot seems…
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The play stars Tom Hiddleston (Robert), Charlie Cox (Jerry) and Zawe Ashton (Emma) in Pinter’s story of a years-long affair, based on his own extramarital relationship with Joan Bakewell.
The Jamie Lloyd Co has announced that a limited number of £15 rush tickets will go on sale starting next Monday, March 4 – for under-30s, key workers, and those on job-seekers allowance.
Just over 300 tickets will be available at this price each week, and will be released for sale on Mondays at noon, only on the ATG website, for the following week’s perfomances.
This is in addition to the 250 tickets at each show that are already available at a price of £25 or less, for those who don’t fit into the above categories. Though many of those tickets have already sold, there are still some available. People are advised to keep checking the ATG website for availability.
The Evening Standard quotes director Jamie Lloyd as saying, “Having come from a low-income, working-class background, it has felt essential to introduce the work of Harold Pinter (the working-class bloke from Hackney) to theatregoers from all walks of life, including many who have never been to the theatre before, with 25,000 good seats for only £15 across our Pinter at the Pinter season.”
For more details on eligibility and process, check the ‘Betrayal’ website.
The play opens March 5, 2019 at the Harold Pinter Theatre, and stars Tom Hiddleston, Charlie Cox and Zawe Ashton.
Hiddles Hub 