St David’s Hall
Jealousy, ambiguity and deceit are all parts of the human thought process. As much as we want to avoid darker sides of our minds, we cannot. They remain inescapable. These darker emotions were presented with a collaboration of fantastic direction, a flawless cast and spine tingling moments of awkwardness in ‘On in five’s’ production of Betrayal, directed by James Robert Auheb.
On in 5’s rendition of Harold Pinter’s classic provided a tense, dramatic and somewhat nosey account of the past events and inevitable betrayal between protagonists, Jerry, Emma and Robert. The opening scene illuminated with authenticity, the reunion of two lovers, Jerry (played by Paul Tonkin) and Emma (played by Gemma Leader) provided ample amounts of awkwardness which oozed with tense moments of anticipation. Undeniably, Gemma Leader’s ‘Emma’ was outstanding. The emotion and capacity that she consistently withheld throughout the play is a clear sign of her expertise within the world of theatre. Whether her performance shone thought due to a combination of Pinter’s creation or Leader putting her own spin on the character, either way it allowed for her to steal the show.
Other than Gemma Leader, fantastic performances were given too by Matthew Curran (Robert) and Paul Tonkin. Their dysfunctional relationship presented intrigue and provided a continuous need to know more about the characters’ lives and more importantly about the situation of ‘Betrayal’.
The closeness and compact environment of the room it was performed within St David’s allowed for a tenser atmosphere, which in some ways felt like the audience was intruding on a love affair, a betrayal.
words GEORGE CAULTON