[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”29589″ img_size=”900×500″ alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]Let me take a moment to bask in the fact that I just saw Loki and Daredevil on stage together!
In all seriousness, Betrayal is a Broadway play for a limited time that stars Tom Hiddleston, Charlie Cox, and Zawe Ashton. For the avid theater lover, Betrayal is ninety minutes with no intermission. There are no big sets, no grand climax, and no band. Rather, it is [primarily] just three actors on stage, telling the story. Betrayal is almost a study into the unravelings of an affair and what it led to.
The Plot
For those who didn’t know, like I didn’t know; Betrayal is not a new play. In this revival, Cox plays Jerry and Ashton plays Emma. Jerry and Emma used to be involved, though; that ended a long time ago. What makes their former relationship so taboo is that both Emma and Jerry are married to other people. In fact, Hiddleston plays Robert, not only Emma’s husband, but Jerry’s best friend.
Betrayal was very interesting in how they decided to focus on the story at hand. How the play essentially deconstructed the time period of the affair and moved backward. We not only got to see Jerry and Emma throughout the years, but Robert interacting with both. The whole time my heart was racing, wondering if the big secret, the big betrayal would ever come to the surface.
The Performances
Of course, Hiddleston’s presence is palpable. Robert is very much the brash, self-assured businessman who we wonder if he’s going to pop at any moment. The whole time that Robert was speaking with either his wife or best friend, I waited for the moment where the clear rage that was building up would break out.
While Hiddleston carries the well-known name, it was Cox who was arguably the main character in this play. As the softer Jerry, we see this timeline through his eyes. This play is very much about having your cake and wanting to eat it too. Jerry wants his life with his family, as well as one with Emma, and his friendship with Robert to stay afloat. Is it possible, though?
If I had to say one negative about the play, it is that Ashton’s performance was not as strong as her co-stars. For anyone who has seen Velvet Buzzsaw on Netflix, Ashton plays Emma very similar to her character opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in that movie. As a woman who is having an affair on her husband, she finds it absolutely heartbreaking that not only can Jerry not just drop everything just to always see her, but that he may want to love his wife and perhaps even maintain a friendship with Robert. At the same point, Emma is clearly miffed by her husband’s confessed dalliances, but does she even have the right to be upset?
Final Thoughts
Hiddleston and Cox were wonderful in their roles and their scenes together were purposely uneasy. I had wondered if we would ever see Jerry’s wife or anyone else, but besides a waiter in one little scene, the play focused on the three actors. Betrayal was heartbreaking, because we see three people who used to be happy and how one little event built into extreme contempt between the characters. For those who go to see it, I urge that you not laugh at certain scenes. While audiences seem eager for quick laughs, you have to realize that certain scenes may be set up in a traditionally funny manner, but they’re the destruction of relationships. We’re seeing everything implode from the inside and Betrayal is not a comedy.
Overall, I’m so incredibly happy I got to see this play. The actors are brilliant. The way they decided to deliver the play was fantastic. And you will leave wanting more.
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A girl with too many fandoms to count.
