Lantern Theater Company Presents Harold Pinter's BETRAYAL

Lantern Theater Company continues its 25th anniversary season with Betrayal by Harold Pinter, a devastatingly honest exploration of love, sex, marriage, and friendship, and widely regarded as the influential playwright's masterpiece. Lantern resident director Kathryn MacMillan directs a cast that includes Lantern veterans Geneviève Perrier, Jered McLenigan, and Gregory Isaac, and Ryan Hagan in his Lantern debut. Theater critics and members of the press are invited to request tickets for opening night on Wednesday, January 16 at 7 p.m. by contacting Anne Shuff at ashuff@lanterntheater.org. The expanded six-week performance schedule runs Thursday, January 10 through Sunday, February 17, 2019.

Betrayal begins in 1977 with a meeting between Emma and Jerry, two years after their love affair has ended. Pinter's narrative employs reverse chronology, moving backwards and concluding with the affair's beginning in 1968 in the home of Emma and Robert - Emma's husband and Jerry's best friend. By casting its eye backwards across the nine-year affair, Pinter's sophisticated drama deftly reveals the ways we betray each other - and ourselves.

Betrayal director Kathryn MacMillan notes that Pinter's innovative use of timeline means "we know things the characters can't know yet, and our foreknowledge shapes our understanding of their choices and creates moments of suspense out of seemingly mundane encounters. Ultimately, Pinter's characters are at the mercy of time. They will be betrayed by it, as much as they are betrayed by spouses, lovers, and friends."

"Emma, Jerry, and Robert could turn up across the table at a dinner party, and no one would see anything unusual about them," said Lantern Artistic Director Charles McMahon. "Each of these characters is hurtling through space, inadequately connected but craving connection. With Betrayal, Pinter has created one of the most honest and heartbreaking pictures ever of human aspiration, vanity, need, and self-deception."

Lantern Theater Company will delve into the world of Betrayal on its Lantern Searchlight blog, available online at lanterntheater.org/searchlight. Published articles will explore Pinter's extraordinary influence on 20th Century Theater, London in the 1960s, creative use of timeline in building narrative, and more. New content will be added throughout the production's run.

Tickets for Betrayal are $28 - $43 and are available online at lanterntheater.org or by calling the Lantern Box Office at (215) 829-0395. Student tickets are $15 in advance; $10 student rush tickets are available ten minutes before curtain with valid ID. Discounts are also available for theater industry professionals ($10 in advance or at the door), seniors 65 and up, groups of 10 or more, and U.S. military personnel. Lantern Theater Company is located at St. Stephen's Theater, 10th & Ludlow Sts. in Center City Philadelphia.

TICKET INFORMATION:
Online: www.lanterntheater.org
By Phone: (215) 829-0395
In Person: Lantern Box Office, 10th & Ludlow Streets, Philadelphia, PA 19107