SEX, LIES AND HAROLD PINTER is Coming to the Odyssey Theatre in a Visiting Production

Veteran director Jack Heller (2023’s A Slight Ache, 2019’s A Streetcar Named Desire) will return to the Odyssey Theatre to helm a visiting production of Sex, Lies and Harold Pinter, an evening of two rarely staged Pinter one-acts—both darkly comic, both unmistakably unsettling. Opening night is set for March 20, with performances continuing through April 26.

In Party Time, affluent guests at a chic London gathering (John Coady, Larry Eisenberg, Michelle Ghatan, Brenda James, Isaac W. Jay, Paul Marius, Michelle McGregor, Christopher Louis Parker and Mouchette Van Helsdingen) trade gossip and brag about wealthy pursuits while, just beyond the half-open door, an unjust regime enforces “order” with brutal force.

In the second half of the evening, the tone shifts with The Lover. Susan Priver, who previously appeared at the Odyssey in Tennessee Williams’ Kingdom of Earth and A Streetcar Named Desire and in Pinter’s A Slight Ache (the latter two directed by Heller), stars as Sarah opposite Ron Bottitta, recently seen in Fatherland at the Fountain and Corktown ’39 at Rogue Machine, as Richard. A married couple, Sarah and Richard enliven their relationship by exchanging intimate accounts of their affairs—until Pinter’s sly, bittersweet twist reveals how fragile the boundaries between fantasy, power and desire truly are.

The creative team for Sex, Lies and Harold Pinter includes scenic designer Joel Daavid, lighting designer Gavan Wyrick, sound designer Chrisropher Moscatiello, Costume Designer Shon LeBlanc and properties designer Sofia Alejandra Gonzalez. The stage manager is Valeria Ruuva, and the evening is produced by Brian Foyster and Christina Hart.