Kristin Scott Thomas is to return to the stage in a new production of Harold Pinter’s three-hander Betrayal, which plays at the Comedy theatre from 27 May to 20 August (press night 16 June).
The actress will play Emma, the character at the centre of Pinter’s play about a love triangle, which is told in reverse over a period of nine years. She is joined in the production by Douglas Henshall and Ben Miles and directed by Ian Rickson, who directed Scott Thomas in her last stage outing, The Seagull at the Royal Court, for which she won the 2008 Best Actress Olivier Award.
A hugely accomplished actress on both stage and screen, Scott Thomas’s work comprises As You Desire Me and Three Sisters in the West End and a vast back catalogue of films including Four Weddings And A Funeral – for which she won a BAFTA – Easy Virtue, Gosford Park, The English Patient, Angels & Insects, Nowhere Boy and The Other Boleyn Girl. She has also starred in the French language films I’ve Loved You So Long and Sous Ton Emprise.
Henshall’s London stage credits include The Last Days Of Judas Iscariot at the Almeida theatre, The Cryptogram at the Donmar Warehouse, Death Of A Salesman in the West End and the Coast Of Utopia at the National Theatre. Lately he has appeared in a number of high profile television series including Primeval, Collision and South Riding. His film work includes Angels & Insects alongside Scott Thomas.
Miles is a London stage regular who was last seen in Measure For Measure at the Almeida theatre. His theatre appearances also include My Child at the Royal Court and several productions at the National Theatre, while his performance in The Norman Conquests at the Old Vic in 2008 took him to Broadway. Miles is also well known for his screen appearances in Coupling and Lark Rise To Candleford.
Betrayal, which was last seen in London at the Donmar Warehouse in 2007, shows the high price of passion and the damage inflicted by desire as it charts the entangled relationships between Emma, her lover Jerry and her husband – and Jerry’s friend – Robert. The play, which premiered at the National Theatre in 1978, was widely reported to be based on Pinter’s affair with the broadcaster Joan Bakewell during the 1960s.
Betrayal plays at the Comedy theatre following The Children’s Hour, also directed by Rickson, which runs to 7 May.
CB